Wicked Local Marblehead: In Marblehead, Hundreds Pause to Honor Fallen Heroes

The relocation of Memorial Day services to Abbot Hall Monday marked a first in Dave Rodgers’ 17-years as Marblehead veterans agent.

“It’s the first rainy day for Memorial Day that I can remember,” said Joe Whipple as he climbed up Abbot Hall’s grand staircase into the auditorium just before the 10 a.m. service.

“Thank you for coming. I know we prefer to be outside, but this is a great turnout,” said Rodgers to the sea of ‘Headers gathered for the annual event.

Selectman Jackie Belf-Becker, state Rep. Lori Ehrlich, Police Chief Robert Picariello and Fire Chief Jason Gilliland joined veterans Congressman Seth Moulton, Moses, Jake, Buck and Derek Grader, Roger Hamson, Flint Israel and Larry Gwin in presenting wreaths. Each wreath represented a U.S. military conflict engaged or entered into since the Revolutionary War.

The separate addresses made by cousins retired Lt. Col. Derek Grader and retired Capt. Moses Grader, both Marines, highlighted what Rogers called a “condensed Memorial Day service.” The move inside essentially squeezed what is typically three hours’ worth of services and a parade into a little over an hour long ceremony.

Derek Grader told stories about three late soldiers with whom he served at points along his 27-year career in the Marine Corps, and in doing so, he put a face on recent wars’ casualties.

“Because how many Americans actually know someone who has been killed in war?” he asked.

He spoke of Capt. Richard Gannon, who was killed in the Anbar Province of Iraq on April 17, 2004, and Sgt. Moses Rocha, who served as Grader’s armory custodian, before he was killed on Aug. 5, 2004 in Najaf, Iraq. And he closed with Marblehead native Christopher Piper, an Army Special Forces communications sergeant who died on June 16, 2005 from wounds sustained in Orgun-e, Afghanistan. Rocha and Gannon left behind wives, all three left children, and each possessed special, affable qualities, Derek Grader said.

“Rich, Moses and Chris were not killed on their first deployment, each one had been on multiple before their final,” he said. “They all knew the risk but kept going anyway.”

He asked attendees to neither forget them nor the millions others who died in the name of liberty.

“It is a significant act that we have come out today to honor those that gave the ultimate sacrifice for our country,” said Moses Grader in his address.

It’s also profound, he added, that Marblehead citizens came out not only to “understand the joy and pride of service” but also to share in the hardships that war bears down on living and dead veterans.

Part of that hardship lies in what he called a “citizen-soldiers” oath to defend the Constitution. Out of that oath might come a struggle of conscience to hold the line in the face of extreme violence or to obey orders from a commander and chief whose political ideology differs from their own.

“Take Don Nowland, Larry Gwinn, Harry Christensen, or Buck Grader, or Henry Livingston, or David Rodgers here today and their generation of Vietnam veterans who fought an unpopular war that sadly divided the country,” said Moses Grader. “Listen to Congressman Seth Moulton here talk about fighting a war in Iraq that he did not agree with.”

The fact that soldiers, like the ones he named, stood by their oath “makes our democracy all the more impressive,” he said.

The day’s grand marshal, Roger E. Hamson, 93, a U.S. Navy veteran of the World War II, received a standing ovation from attendees. He entered the military shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and served in landing crafts that dropped Marines on the beaches in the Pacific Theatre, said Rodgers. At one point, Hamson found himself in a landing craft stuck on the beach under enemy fire.

“There were casualties, but Roger made it home,” said Rodgers. “With so many War World II vets leaving us, it’s a pleasure to be in your presence.”

Lizzy Turo sang the “Star-Spangled Banner” acapella following a rendition of “Taps” that came after the Honor Roll was read. Both preceded a hearty “God Bless America.” Official exercises dissolved to the beat of the Northeast Italian Band playing the town’s hymn, “Marblehead Forever,” and a benediction offered by Rabbi David Meyer of Temple Emanu-El.

Nick Freeman called the ceremony “a teary-eyed one.”

“You can’t help it when you hear what they all went through,” said Freeman, a Navy veteran. “It’s good to ask a veteran about someone they knew - that way they don’t forget about them.”

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