Bellingham vet tabbed Memorial Day parade grand marshal

Parade will be 147th and town plans ceremony May 20

BELLINGHAM — Town native and Vietnam veteran Gerard Dubois will be the grand marshal of Bellingham’s 147th Memorial Day parade and ceremony May 20.

Lieutenant Colonel John W. Strain II, deputy commander of the Illinois Army National Guard’s 404th Maneuver En- hancement Brigade, will be this year’s keynote speaker.

A native of Bellingham, 72-year-old Dubois served in Vietnam for 27 months and completed six years (1963-1969) with the Navy Seabees as a member of Mobile Construction Batallion No. 58. He worked as a heavy-duty equipment operator, clearing land for fire bases and pushing back perimeters for infantry soldiers.

Dubois’ home base was in Da Nang but he spent time in Chu-lai and Phu-bai.

Ranked as an E-5 second-class petty officer, he was discharged because of injuries suffered in combat.

“Not everyone gets chosen to be a grand marshal for Memorial Day,’’ he said. “This is a tremendous honor and I’m pleased to participate. Memorial Day is a time to be remembered and never forgotten. It’s about men and women going to

battle to preserve all of the freedoms we enjoy today.’’

The theme of this year’s Memorial Day program, besides honoring those who made the ultimate sacrifice, is World War I and the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War.

The parade will begin at the Memorial Middle School at 1 p.m. and proceed down Route 126 to the center of b town. The procession will stop at the World War I Memorial in front of Town Hall for a rifle salute and placement of a wreath, which will be followed with the playing of Taps. The parade route will end at the town common, where the program will begin with an invocation, the National Anthem and the Gettysburg Address.

The ceremony will continue with music provided by the Senior Center Chorus, the Bellingham High School chorus and soloist Joseph Oliver, a senior at Bellingham High. Jim Hastings, chairman of the Memorial and Vetb erans Day Committee, will then thank the Memorial Day Committee and military and civic groups for their participation before comments from the grand marshal.

Closing ceremonies will include the reading of the p names of Bellingham residents who made the ultimate sacrifice in the service of their country during the Civil War, World War I, World War II, Korea and Vietnam. The names will be read by members of the Bellingham High School Band. In addition, the names of Bellingham veterans who died since last Memorial Day will also be read.

The ceremony will close with a rifle volley, Taps’ by the Bellingham High Band and a closing prayer.

“Memorial Day is a time to pause and honor the b memory of our servicemen and women for protecting us,’’ said Hastings, chairman of the Memorial and Veterans Day Committee for the last 11 years. “If it weren’t for those who made the ultimate sacrifice, we’d be living in a different type of United States. They’re the ones who’ve enabled us to enjoy the freedoms we have today.’’

Hastings urges any veteran who would like to march to contact him or just arrive at the Middle School. Anyp one who knows of a Bellingham resident who enlisted in the military since last year is asked to contact Hastings immediately at (508) 966-0364 so names can be added to the War Memorial to recognize their service.

Besides Hastings, the Memorial Day Committee includes Marilyn Fuller, Sam Cowell, Paula Saliba, Kirk Crawford, Allen Crawford, Melinda Crawford, Debra Parker and Wade Parker.

In anticipation of Memorial Day, the Bellingham Cemetery Committee & Sextons request that individuals p with loved ones and family members interred in town cemeteries do some spring clean up to help beautify the grounds.

The committee asks residents to remember that some decorations are not allowed under town cemetery regulations, including grave borders, moving decorations, benches, and out of season decorations.

If old flowers or plants and other unacceptable decorations are not removed before May 7 they will be removed by the DPW staff and stored at the DPW, 26 Blackstone St., until June 15. They will be disposed of if not picked up at the DPW before June 15 at 3 p.m.

Town of Bellingham Cemeteries, include Scott Cemetery on Center Street; Oak Hill Cemeteries on Hartford Avenue; Center Cemetery on Mechanic Street; and Depot Street Cemetery on Depot Street