Local Wareham veterans made a pilgrimage to various local cemeteries and memorials on Monday morning to celebrate Memorial Day and honor the deceased veterans who served in the armed forces.

"I think we need to remember all of the people that have served and fallen … to give us the freedom that we have," said 14-year-old Robert Giannelli, whose grandfather, Charles VanderStaay, is a veteran and member of Wareham's Veterans Council.

"I do this every year, but because my grandfather is a veteran, I like to support him and everybody in the town," said Giannelli, an 8th grader and the social director for the Wareham Middle School Student Council.

Monday morning's pilgrimage was organized by the Wareham Veterans Council. Many veterans who participated in the day's events were members of the American Legion Post 220 in Wareham.

The veterans began at 8 a.m. at Centre Cemetery on Tihonet Road.

From there, they visited St. Patrick's Cemetery, the town green on Main Street where there is a monument for soldiers and sailors, Agawam Cemetery, memorials on the Onset Bluffs, the Dudley L. Brown Square in Onset, Besse Park, and finally, Memorial Town Hall.

At each location, the veterans placed a wreath honoring the deceased soldiers and commemorated the sacrifice that joining the armed forces entails.

"These flowers will wither, but the spirit of which they are the symbol will endure until the end of time," Joseph Cappello, Post 220 commander and Monday's master of ceremonies, said each time the wreath was placed in front of a grave or memorial.

"People should remember why we have Memorial Day. It's for all the veterans who gave their lives for our freedom here," Cappello noted.

After the placing of the wreath, members of the Wareham Police Honor Guard shot their rifles three times into the air in order to honor the deceased. After the salute, Decas Elementary school teacher and bugle player Brianne Tierney played  "Taps."

The ceremony of the firing squad comes from World War I, explained VanderStaay. At the end of the day there would be a cease-fire and each side would retrieve the dead and wounded.

After retrieving the dead and wounded, soldiers would fire three times to let the other side know that they were done, VanderStaay said.

Ronnie Checkman, a 40-year resident of Wareham, was visiting her husband's grave around the time the Veterans Council finished its first ceremony at Centre Cemetery.

Checkman's husband was a Vietnam War veteran, and she visits the cemetery yearly on Memorial day to commemorate his sacrifice, she said.

"I do it because it's the right thing to do," Checkman said. "They do enough for us, that's the least I can do."

Police officers, store employees, residents tending their gardens, and parents walking with their kids stopped whatever they were doing and saluted or simply stood to watch when the ceremonies were held.

Octogenarian Gertrude Sullivan was one of those observers. She said she comes out every year when the council visits Dudley L. Brown Square in Onset "because I love Wareham and I love supporting them," said Sullivan, whose 87th birthday is coming up on July 4.

Declining interest

Sullivan is one of a declining number of supporters.

The Memorial Day ceremonies used to include a parade, a practice that ended a few years ago due to a lack of interest, VanderStaay said.

Part of the problem is a declining membership that gets involved in veterans affairs. Many of the veterans are from the Korean War or World War II and are getting into their 80s and 90s, VanderStaay said.

"Everybody is just getting to the point there where they just physically are not able to do it, and the young guys, they're not interested," VanderStaay said.

VanderStaay theorized that part of the reason that younger people do not participate is because they are too busy.

Another part of the problem, however, is the difference between the number of veterans today and the number of veterans in the past, VanderStaay said.

After World War II, VanderStaay explained, so many soldiers went over to fight that there were more veterans who came home and joined organizations. But now, a much smaller percentage of the population is veterans and organization numbers are dwindling, VanderStaay said.

Still, VanderStaay laments the loss of the Memorial Day parade and is hoping that more veterans will step up and help in future ceremonies.

It's a sentiment echoed by State Representative Susan Williams Gifford (R-Wareham), who spoke in front of Town Hall during the closing ceremonies.

Gifford said she remembers having her first date with her husband, Municipal Maintenance Director Mark Gifford, the day after Wareham's Memorial Day parade 13 years ago, and fondly remembers how packed and lively the parade once was.

"It's too bad that we don't have the interest that we had years ago, with people coming out to show their appreciation," Gifford said after her closing remarks. "Hopefully we'll have young people more involved and try to keep that spirit of appreciation alive."

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