Joseph Bushika salute as Laurie Boudreau sings the national anthem during at Town Hall. See more photos here.
CLARKSBURG, Mass. — Attendees at Sunday's Memorial Day ceremonies at Town Hall were asked to remember the many military personnel who still lay in foreign lands or the oceans deep waters.
Memorial Day is in particular a day to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice, said Joseph Bushika of Peter A. Cook VFW Post 9144.
"Any veteran will tell you that the real heroes are the ones that didn't survive, the ones that died on the battlefield, those that sacrificed their lives for their country," he said.
Of the thousands who fell overseas during World War I and later, many were able to be shipped home to be buried by their loved ones. Many more were buried where they fell across Europe, Africa, the Far East and islands in the Pacific, Bushika said.
"Hundreds of sailors and Marines were buried at sea, loved ones unable to be at their sides to pay their last respects," he continued. "Such is the price of freedom and liberty."
Nearly 79,000 military personnel are listed missing in World War II, almost 20 percent of those killed during the war, and more than 8,000 went missing in Korea and more than 2,200 in Vietnam.
He asked that the gathering consider what it must have been like for mothers and fathers, waiting to find out what had happened to their sons and daughters and, for some, never knowing the final fate of their loved ones.
Thousands of missing soldiers, sailors and airmen remain missing in action, particularly from the wars of the 19th century.
Advances in forensic science has brought "much-needed closure for families throughout the United States," Bushika said, but many others will never know. "Perhaps these lost souls none only to God will come home once they are identified and be reunited with their families and their hometowns ... and be given the honors they truly deserve."
Town Administrator Carl McKinney spoke on behalf of the town, saying, "today is a day of solemn gratitude, gratitude to those who have fought for our nation and in so doing have paid the ultimate price protecting our freedoms our liberties and our democracy. They have paid a price that we can never repay. Let these services today uphold the duty and commitment of we who remain."
Select Board Chair Jeffrey Levanos and Cecilia Kincaid read poems and Kincaid gave the Gettysburg Address. Leyla Kincaid rang the bell as Bushika read of the names of those from Clarksburg who lost their lives in the nation's wars since the Civil War.
The Drury High School band played a number of patriotic tunes and Laurie Boudreau sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" and "America the Beautiful"; the Clarksburg Volunteer Fire Company provide and honor guard and gave the salute.
Lanesborough firefighter and Navy veteran Michael McBride gives the keynote speech at Center Cemetery. More photos here.
Scores of residents turned out to watch a mostly motorized parade down Route 7 in Lanesborough to Center Cemetery on an unseasonably warm afternoon.
Among those who marched were the Mount Greylock Regional School band, members of the town's Fire Department and local Boy Scouts, who carried a wreath to be laid on the cemetery of a deceased service member during the annual memorial service.
That service featured opening and closing benedictions from the Rev. Richard Wilson, who was introduced by new Town Manager Gina Dario.
"Heavenly father, we are so grateful for the brave men and women who paid the ultimate price, they paid the ultimate sacrifice, so that we can live in freedom," Wilson said. "Father, we thank you for each and every one and for their families. And, Lord, I'm sure there are many veterans here today who had fellow soldiers fall to their death in battle.
"Father, comfort them, comfort all of us."
One of the veterans in attendance, Mike McBride, delivered the keynote remarks at the service.
McBride, who last year was named the town's Firefighter of the Year, served in the Navy as a combat search and rescue medic in Middle East during Operation Desert Shield and in Somalia during Operation Restore Hope.
For his text, McBride chose the essay, "The Fallen Soldier," by retired Navy Seal and podcaster and leadership coach Jocko Willink.
"This Memorial Day, remember me — the fallen warrior," the essay reads in part. "And remember me not for my sake, but for yours. Remember what I sacrificed so you can truly appreciate the incredible treasures you have: Life. Liberty. The pursuit of happiness.
"You have the joys of life — the joys that I gave up so that you can relish in them: a cool wind in the air … the gentle spring grass on your bare feet ... the warm summer sun on your face. Family. Friends. And freedom. Never forget where it all came from. It came from sacrifice — the supreme sacrifice."
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Classical Beat: Enjoy Great Music at Tanglewood, Sevenars Festivals
By Stephen DanknerSpecial to iBerkshires
As Tanglewood enters its fourth week, stellar performances will take center stage in Ozawa Hall and in the Koussevitsky Shed.
Why go? To experience world-class instrumental soloists, such as the stellar piano virtuoso Yuja Wang. Also not to be missed are the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, as well as visiting guest ensembles and BSO and TMC soloists as they perform chamber and orchestral masterworks by iconic composers Purcell, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, Wagner, Prokofiev, Richard Strauss, Vaughan Williams and Ives.
In addition to Tanglewood, there are also outstanding performances to be enjoyed at the Sevenars Music Festival in South Worthington. Both venues present great music performed in acoustically resonant venues by marvelous performers.
Read below for the details for concerts from Wednesday, July 17-Tuesday, July 22.
Tanglewood
• Wednesday, July 17, 8 p.m. in Ozawa Hall • Recital Series: The phenomenal world-class piano virtuoso Yuja Wang presents a piano recital in Ozawa Hall.
• Thursday July 18, 8 p.m. in Ozawa Hall • Recital Series: Les Arts Florissants, William Christie, Director and Mourad Merzouki, Choreographer presents a performance of Henry Purcell's ‘semi-opera'/Restoration Drama "The Fairy Queen."
• Friday, July 19, 8 p.m. in the Shed: Maestro Dima Slobodeniouk leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in a program of Leonard Bernstein (the deeply moving, jazz-tinged Symphony No. 2 ("Age of Anxiety") and Brahms' glorious Symphony No. 3.
• Saturday, July 20, 8 p.m. in the Shed: BSO Maestro Andris Nelsons leads the Orchestra in a concert version of Richard Wagner's thrilling concluding music drama from his "Ring" cycle-tetralogy, "Götterdämmerung." The stellar vocal soloists include sopranos Christine Goerke and Amanda Majeske, tenor Michael Weinius, baritone James Rutherford, bass Morris Robinson and Rhine maidens Diana Newman, Renée Tatum and Annie Rosen.
• Sunday, July 21, 2:30 p.m. in the Shed: Maestro Nelsons leads the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra (TMCO) in a program of Ives (the amazingly evocative "Three Places in New England"), Beethoven (the powerful Piano Concerto No. 3 with soloist Emanuel Ax) and Richard Strauss ("Also sprach Zarathustra" — you'll recognize its iconic "sunrise" opening).
• Tuesday, July 22, 7:00 p.m. in the Shed • Popular Artist Series: Beck, with the Boston Pops, Edwin Outwater, conductor.
For tickets to all Tanglewood events, call 888-266-1200, or go to tanglewood.org.
Sevenars Music Festival
Founded in 1968, Sevenars Concerts, Inc., presents its 56th anniversary season of six summer concerts, held at the Academy in South Worthington, located at 15 Ireland St., just off Route 112.
• Sunday, July 21, at 4 p.m.: Sevenars is delighted to present violist Ron Gorevic, returning to Sevenars after his stunning Bach recital in 2023. This year, Gorevic will offer a groundbreaking program including music of Kenji Bunch, Sal Macchia, Larry Wallach, and Tasia Wu, the latter three composing especially for him. In addition, he'll offer Bach's magnificent Chaconne in D minor and Max Reger's 3rd Suite.
Hailed by The New York Times, Gorevic continues a long and distinguished career as a performer on both violin and viola. Along with solo recitals, he has toured the United States, Germany, Japan, Korea, and Australia, performing most of the quartet repertoire. In London, he gave the British premieres of pieces by Donald Erb and Ned Rorem. He has recorded for Centaur Records as soloist and member of the Prometheus Piano Quartet, and for Koch Records as a member of the Chester String Quartet.
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