New War Memorial to be Unveiled Today, 11/11, after Parade and Ceremony

Her father went off to war. So did her husband, two sons, brother and many cousins. Their collective service spans more than half a century, from World War I, which was supposed to be the war to end all wars, to Vietnam.

That’s why Margie Labedz put on her blue auxilian’s uniform Thursday and headed to the Senior Center: to keep veterans “alive in the public’s eye,” so people “will remember the men and women who went overseas for us.”

Woburn is commemorating Veterans Day 2012 with a series of events at schools and the Senior Center.  

Today, Nov. 11, the eleventh day of the eleventh month, when an armistice—or truce—was signed by nations fighting World War I, 94 years ago, the city will hold a traditional parade and ceremony on the Common—plus a special event: The unveiling of the new memorial that lists the names of all of the city’s wartime veterans, from conflicts in the 1600's to today.

The black granite memorial, which Larry Guiseppe, city director of veterans' services, described as “elegant,” holds the names of almost 12,000 veterans, Guiseppe told the crowd at the Senior Center Thursday.

More than 80 of those names are from the same family—the Wymans—Guiseppe said. They fought in an early conflict. Many members of the Richardson family are also listed, he noted.

Nearly 300 Woburnites have been killed in wartime action, Guiseppe said. Their names are marked on the monument with a star.

The $600,000 for the memorial came from to replace the former, crumbling, almost-70-year-old brick and wood monument.

During Thursday’s ceremony at the Senior Center, candles were lit for veterans of all wars; for prisoners of war and those missing in action and for the men and women serving today. Candles were also lit for hope and peace.

Labedz also reviewed the holiday’s history. Established in the United States in 1926, Armistice Day was made a holiday in 1938. The day was renamed in 1954 to honor all veterans.

A number of the people at Thursday’s ceremony are veterans.  Bill Maher served in the Navy in World War II. He served stateside, as a hospital corpsman, he told Patch. He still thinks about some of the people he served with, he said. People still respect Veterans Day, he said. But both Maher and tablemate Tony De Stefano said that respect is fading.

George Poole served overseas in the Army, during the Cold War. In Berlin, “I saw Communism firsthand,” he told the audience. At that time, when Berlin was divided, East Berliners did not have freedom, he said.

Veterans are still coming home today, emphasized Labedz, president of the VFW Ladies Auxiliary in Winchester. She attends some events at the Woburn center, she said and has helped with events there.

“Remember our troops," she urged, “and their families.”

The city’s Veterans Day parade will start at 10:30 a.m. today on south Main Street, at the Woburn-Winchester line. It will end at the Common, where the traditional ceremony will begin around 11 a.m., when the World War I armistice was signed. Then the new memorial will be unveiled. A cookout will follow. The library will open at 1 p.m. with a display of military-related photos and a slide show at 2 p.m.