Why can't Leominster, Massachusetts honor this veteran?

Thomas DiGeronimo, webmaster over at the Leominster High website, see here, posted the following on Facebook:

David Hill, LHS '66 grad, died in Viet Nam in '69. His Mom wants to know why the city of Leominster can't name a street after him, when some people get parks named after them. Leominster gave out ribbons for servicemen who fought in WWI, WWII, and even Korea. but not for Viet Nam Veterans.
Leominster Veterans Service has dropped the ball."

What message does this send to veterans, their families and friends, and the wider community? That veterans of the conflict in Viet Nam are second-class citizens?

Just a Common Soldier
(A Soldier Died Today)
By A. Lawrence Vaincourt


He was getting old and paunchy and his hair was falling fast,
And he sat around the Legion, telling stories of the past.

Of a war that he had fought in and the deeds that he had done,
In his exploits with his buddies; they were heroes, every one.

And tho’ sometimes, to his neighbors, his tales became a joke,
All his Legion buddies listened, for they knew whereof he spoke.

But we’ll hear his tales no longer for old Bill has passed away,
And the world’s a little poorer, for a soldier died today.

He will not be mourned by many, just his children and his wife,
For he lived an ordinary and quite uneventful life.

Held a job and raised a family, quietly going his own way,
And the world won’t note his passing, though a soldier died today.

When politicians leave this earth, their bodies lie in state,
While thousands note their passing and proclaim that they were great.

Papers tell their whole life stories, from the time that they were young,
But the passing of a soldier goes unnoticed and unsung.

Is the greatest contribution to the welfare of our land
A guy who breaks his promises and cons his fellow man?

Or the ordinary fellow who, in times of war and strife,
Goes off to serve his Country and offers up his life?

A politician’s stipend and the style in which he lives
Are sometimes disproportionate to the service that he gives.

While the ordinary soldier, who offered up his all,
Is paid off with a medal and perhaps, a pension small.

It’s so easy to forget them for it was so long ago,
That the old Bills of our Country went to battle, but we know

It was not the politicians, with their compromise and ploys,
Who won for us the freedom that our Country now enjoys.

Should you find yourself in danger, with your enemies at hand,
Would you want a politician with his ever-shifting stand?

Or would you prefer a soldier, who has sworn to defend
His home, his kin and Country and would fight until the end?

He was just a common soldier and his ranks are growing thin,
But his presence should remind us we may need his like again.

For when countries are in conflict, then we find the soldier’s part
Is to clean up all the troubles that the politicians start.

If we cannot do him honor while he’s here to hear the praise,
Then at least let’s give him homage at the ending of his days.

Perhaps just a simple headline in a paper that would say,
Our Country is in mourning, for a soldier died today.

Contact Mayor Dean J. Mazzarella to express your concerns and ask him why the City of Leominster cannot honor its native son with a street named after him.

Mayor Mazzarella:

Phone: 1-978-534-7500

Email: dmazzarella@leominster-ma.gov

Or his Mayoral Aide Michelle Nadeau at:

mnadeau@leominster-ma.gov

Let Leominster Veterans "Services" know how you feel on Facebook

Heartfelt prayers to Our Lady will never go unanswered

My parents were educated at Saint Cecilia's School in Leominster.  So when I heard that the bodily remains of a St. Cecilia's boy, Norman Dufresne, killed during the Korean War, were finally being returned to Leominster, I gave thanks to Our Lady for her maternal intercession.  You see, Norman's mother (often in tears waiting by the window for her boy to come home) and his father both prayed the Rosary every day for their son's return home.

Of course, his soul had already returned home some 63 years ago.

Norman and his parents have been reunited somewhere in the sunlit hills of Heaven.

No prayer to the Virgin is ever unanswered.  Even if they are not answered when we expect or in the manner we expect.  I prayed for my father to return home when he was in the intensive care unit at Saint Vincent's Hospital.  And so he did.  On September 19, 2000, on the anniversary of Our Lady of La Salette, the Mother of God, came to my father's hospital room to take her child home.

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thine intercession was left unaided.
Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my mother; to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me.

Amen.

Father Anthony Di Russo gets it right

In a letter to the Editor of the Sentinel & Enterprise entitled Religious tolerance is a two-way street which was published yesterday, Father Anthony Di Russo wrote: "I found the Sept. 20 article on Ahmadiyya Muslims very interesting. We can sympathize with them and they with us because in Saudi Arabia and other Muslim-majority countries they would have no freedom of religion and would actually be at risk of losing their lives since they would be considered heretics.

In his recent trip to England, Pope Benedict said the Catholic Church is open to dialogue with other religions. But he also said there must be reciprocity. Reciprocity from the Muslim side is practically nonexistent. Where is there a church in Saudi Arabia? We cannot even go into that country with a Bible. In fact, the U.S. military recently burned Bibles in Afghanistan to avoid the appearance of trying to convert the Afghans.

Islam has a huge problem because the true believers think they must subject the rest of us to Sharia. They think later verses in the Quran supercede earlier verses. Unfortunately, the later verses are the violent ones and the peaceful, earlier verses are superceded. So the Jihadists actually have the Quran to back up their position.

The Sunoco station on Main Street in Leominster has been displaying a sign saying: Tolerance without reciprocity is appeasement. It is about time we demand reciprocity from Islam."

I've been saying this right along.