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Health & Fitness

Bill Aitken, Veterans – Ready Cemeteries for Memorial Day ...

 A couple of good old-fashioned sayings came to mind as we met with the Town of Dedham`s Veterans Service Officer, Bill Aitken recently. “Many hands make light work” or perhaps “we get by with a little help from our friends…”

 You see, Memorial Day is almost upon us, along with the tremendous task of placing flags on the graves of our Town`s veterans.

 This year, Bill Aitken called on the services of Rob Blaney, Greg Cabral and the young men and women of the Dedham Youth Commission, along with a handful of veterans for help. Aitken and Administrative Assistant, Maureen Renehan, arrived at the Brookdale Cemetery this week with over 2,500 flags!

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 The group met, introductions were made all around, and Mr. Aitken explained his “plan” to get this job done. Each veteran gravesite, from the Civil War to present day, would be distinguished by having a marker beside the stone or a veteran sticker on it. Each veteran grave would receive a flag.

 Box after box of brand new American flags were unloaded from the back of Aitken`s car, and the group broke up in to teams, walking row by row through this sprawling cemetery.

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 Mr. Aitken stood by quietly for a moment, and watched as the Dedham Middle School and Dedham High School students began to fan out in front of him. “The cemetery workers here do a wonderful job getting everything ready for us.” He added that “it makes me very proud to have this group helping my veterans and I do this job.”

 We approached one local veteran, who wished to remain anonymous, as he cleaned up around the “Veteran`s Garden.” This gentlemen summed up the afternoon`s work perfectly – “we`re just doin` our part…”

Story and Photos by: Joe Kilroy





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