Bellingham to host USMC Col.
Town’s Veterans Day observance slated for Sunday
BELLINGHAM – A commanding officer of the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center and former deputy commander of U.S. Marine Corps Forces in Europe and Africa will be the keynote speaker at Bellingham’s 6th Annual Veterans Day Ceremony on Sunday, Nov. 11.
Coordinated by Jim Hastings, chairman of the Bellingham Memorial & Veterans Day Committee, the ceremony will be held at 1 p.m. at the Bellingham Public Library, 100 Blackstone St.
The ceremony will open with a presentation of the colors by the Blackstone Valley Young Marines, and conclude with a closing prayer, wreath-laying and playing of taps by Bellingham High school student Thomas Cecelya at the library flagpole.
The program will also include the National Anthem sung by Joseph Oliver and the Pledge of Allegiance led by Cub Scout Pack 118 (Wolf Den). In addition, poppy seed packets commemorating the Anniversary of WWI will be presented by Cub Scout Pack 118 and a video on the WWI Doughboys will be shown,
Guest speakers will be Bellingham veterans Kevin Heenan and David Frazer and Colonel James Donnellan USMC, commanding officer of the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center (MCMWTC).
Col. Donnellan was commissioned in 1988 and has had many assignments and served in various commands throughout his 29-year career. He has completed several deployments to Okinawa and also served in Desert Shield and Desert Storm, Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, Operation Iraqi Freedom and Liberia.
Prior to assuming his current post, he was stationed at U.S. Central Command, II Marine Expeditionary Force and Deputy Commander of U.S. Marine Corps Forces Europe and Africa.