At a special Memorial Day ceremony in Pierce Park, the Massachusetts Medal of Liberty will be presented to the Gold Star families of 16 service members from Lincoln and Sudbury who were killed in action or died of their wounds in World War I, World War II, Korea, and Vietnam.
The Medal of Liberty ceremony will start in Pierce Park on Monday, May 31 at 9 a.m., followed by the traditional Veterans of Lincoln program in the same location at about 10:30 a.m.
Congresswoman Katherine Clark will lead the ceremony, aided by Sen. Michael Barrett and Rep. Thomas Stanley. Also expected to speak is Steve Milley, father of Scott Milley, a Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School graduate who was killed in action in Afghanistan in 2010. About 70 families members are expected. Also planned:
- Ladder trucks from the Lincoln and Sudbury Fire Departments will hoist the American flag
- The Lincoln Minute Men will fire their muskets in salute
- The Concord Cannons will fire their two 19th-century bronze cannons
- A bugler will play taps
Lincoln Veterans Services Officer Peter Harvell and volunteer military genealogists researched military and Gold Star family records. Lincoln officials, the Council on Aging and Human Services, and Parks and Recreation have all supported development of this ceremony. Other Massachusetts towns such as Framingham, Milford, and Westborough have held similar ceremonies in previous years.
The fallen service members to be honored are:
- Army Air Force Cpl. Edmund Barrett (Sudbury) — killed in the Mediterranean in 1942 when his transport ship was sunk.
- Army Pfc. Frank Bastinelli (Sudbury) — killed on Guadalcanal on Nov. 22, 1942.
- Navy Cmdr. Leland Burr (Lincoln) — a staff watch officer on the transport ship USS Callaway when it was hit by a Japanese plane off the coast of Luzon in January 1945. He was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for saving several shipmates despite his own injuries.
- Marine Pfc. Ernest Flynn (Sudbury) — a Marine killed on Saipan in the South Pacific on July 2, 1944.
- Army Pfc. John Fradd (Lincoln) — killed on June 27, 1945 in Mindanao in the Philippines while going to the aid of other soldiers. He was awarded the Bronze Star posthumously.
- Army Pfc. Whiton Jackson (Lincoln) — killed at age 18 on Christmas Day 1944 wile serving with the 262nd Infantry in Europe.
- Marine Sgt. Thomas Mallery (Sudbury) — a platoon leader who served with the 1st Marine division who was killed at age 22 when he stepped on a land mine in March 1953, about six weeks after arriving in Korea.
- Army Pvt. Wilder Marston (Lincoln) — died in a base hospital of wounds received in action in the Airne-Marne offensive in August 1918. He was working on the estate of James Storrow in Lincoln (now the Carroll School) before joining the service.
- Marine Cpl. Dominic Panetta (Lincoln) — died on Okinawa on June 21, 1945.
- Army Pvt. Leo Quinn (Sudbury) — killed during the Normandy invasion (D-Day) on June 6, 1944.
- Army 1st Lt. Richard Rogers (Sudbury) — a paratrooper who died at age 22 from sniper fire in December 1968, one month after arriving in Vietnam for his second tour of duty. Posthumously awarded the Silver Star for administering first aid to wounded soldiers and covering their evacuation.
- Army Technical Sgt. Edwin Seeger (Lincoln) — killed in January 1945 at age 20.
- Army Pfc. Ray Smith (Sudbury) — killed in Belgium on Nov. 21, 1944.
- Army Pfc. Albert Spiller (Sudbury) — killed in Germany on April 10, 1945; his family was notified on V-E Day on May 8, 1945.
- Army Petty Officer 3rd Class Harry Williams (Sudbury) — a 19-year-old Navy machinist whose plane crashed in the Pacific on Dec. 15, 1943.
- Navy Seaman Second Class Milton Williams (Sudbury) — a radar operator on a destroyer killed in an explosion at sea in January 1944.