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Patrick Renames Ceremonial Guard Unit to Honor 54th Mass

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BOSTON — Gov. Deval Patrick participated in a State House ceremony on Friday marking the redesignation of the Massachusetts National Guard Ceremonial Unit as the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment.

The unit was reorganized in honor of the state's famed 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, the first black regiment raised in the North during the Civil War and authorized by Gov. John Andrew in 1863. The regiment's best-known action was the charge on Battery Wagner in South Carolina, which killed its young leader Col. Robert Gould Shaw and saw the Medal of Honor awarded to Sgt. William Carney.


Photos courtesy governer's office

Gov. Deval Patrick awards campaign streamers Friday to Guard units for their duties in Afghanistan, Iraq and Kosovo at a ceremony in Nurses Hall at the State House
The regiment was featured in the film "Glory" and memorialized in a bronze relief by sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens a century ago.

The change was prompted by National Guard leader Maj. Gen. Joseph Carter, the first black to lead the Massachusetts National Guard, and designated by Patrick, the state's first black governor.

Patrick also awarded campaign streamers to 31 Massachusetts Army and Air National Guard units returning from service in Afghanistan, Iraq and Kosovo.
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Letter: Is the Select Board Listening to Dalton Voters?

Letter to the Editor

To the Editor:

A reasonable expectation by the people of a community is that their Select Board rises above personal preference and represents the collective interests of the community. On Tuesday night [Nov. 12], what occurred is reason for concern that might not be true in Dalton.

This all began when a Select Board member submitted his resignation effective Oct. 1 to the Town Clerk. Wishing to fill the vacated Select Board seat, in good faith I followed the state law, prepared a petition, and collected the required 200-plus signatures of which the Town Clerk certified 223. The Town Manager, who already had a copy of the Select Board member's resignation, was notified of the certified petitions the following day. All required steps had been completed.

Or had they? At the Oct. 9 Select Board meeting when Board members discussed the submitted petition, there was no mention about how they were informed of the petition or that they had not seen the resignation letter. Then a month later at the Nov. 12 Select Board meeting we learn that providing the resignation letter and certified petitions to the Town Manager was insufficient. However, by informing the Town Manager back in October the Select Board had been informed. Thus, the contentions raised at the Nov. 12 meeting by John Boyle seem like a thinly veiled attempt to delay a decision until the end of January deadline to have a special election has passed.

If this is happening with the Special Election, can we realistically hope that the present Board will listen to the call by residents to halt the rapid increases in spending and our taxes that have been occurring the last few years and pass a level-funded budget for next year, or to not harness the taxpayers in town with the majority of the cost for a new police station? I am sure these issues are of concern to many in town. However, to make a change many people need to speak up.

Please reach out to a Select Board member and let them know you are concerned and want the Special Election issue addressed and finalized at their Nov. 25 meeting.

Robert E.W. Collins
Dalton, Mass.

 

 

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