HOLYOKE — Birds softly singing and flags rattling against their poles were the only sounds that rang out during a 77-second moment of silence Tuesday in front of the Soldiers’ Home, where staff, families and supporters gathered to honor the 77 veteran residents who died during last year’s devastating COVID-19 outbreak at the facility.
“The hurt we all felt is intertwined and inseparable,” said Joe Ramirez, a staffer at the home. “But so too is our strength.”
Ramirez was one of four speakers at the vigil, which was held one year after the public first learned of the coronavirus outbreak. By March 31, 2020, 13 residents had already died, and that number would swell to 77 in the following months. It was one of the country’s deadliest outbreaks at a long-term care facility and eventually led to the state’s attorney general filing criminal charges against former superintendent Bennett Walsh and former medical director David Clinton.
“I guess this is a step toward healing,” said Laurie Beaudette, whose father James Mandeville died of the coronavirus at the home in early April. “But it’s going to be a long long road though.”
Many families gathered with loved ones, holding pictures of the veterans in their lives who passed away last year. And many began to shed tears as Sarah Michel — known as “Sarah the Fiddler,” a well-known presence at the home — bowed the first notes to “Amazing Grace,” the music piercing the cool evening air.
The event was organized by the three unions representing staffers inside the Soldiers’ Home: SEIU 888, NAGE SEIU and the Massachusetts Nurses Association.
Ramirez, the first speaker, and SEIU 888 union leader, focused on the connections forged between veterans’ families and the staff, who he said together experienced trauma that has left “scars that will forever be embedded in our souls.”
“Every day we should be compassionate with each other like we are today,” Ramirez said.
Carrie Forrant, a longtime social worker at the home, also spoke about the solidarity shared by those gathered Tuesday. She said that to those outside the community, the veterans who passed away during the outbreak might have been just numbers or headlines.
“But to us, they were our heroes,” Forrant said.
Rabbi Saul Perlmutter of Congregation Sons of Zion synagogue in Holyoke was one of two religious leaders invited to address the crowd. He acknowledged that the one-year anniversary of the outbreak was an emotional moment for everyone gathered.
“Even though we are wearing masks, I can see it in our eyes,” he said, urging the crowd to come together over their shared experience and to find strength in that collectivism.
A year after the tragedy first began to unfold, many are still seeking answers from the state and those they see as responsible for the scale of the outbreak.
Father Robert Gentile, Jr. of Blessed Sacrament Church in Holyoke, told the audience that in order to heal, they must first learn to forgive.
“To err is human,” he said. “To forgive — divine. It’s not easy to do that.”
Earlier in the evening, the home’s trustees interviewed two finalists for the position of Soldiers’ Home superintendent: Idaho State Veterans Home administrator Rick Holloway and the head of Charlton’s Overlook Masonic Health Care Center, Robert Engell. The board will vote to determine the next superintendent during a meeting on Thursday.
The state is moving forward with an expedited capital project for the home, which would see $400 million spent to reconstruct the Cherry Street facility.
As Tuesday’s event came to a close, many bundled themselves against the evening breeze as they chatted with others. Donald and Paul R. Samson of Chicopee were at the event with a photo of their father, Paul E. Samson, who passed away in July of last year after witnessing so many of his fellow residents die of COVID-19.
“I think it was a heartfelt event,” Paul Samson said. “That really was nice, that they honored the workers as well as the veterans.”
Dusty Christensen can be reached at dchristensen@gazettenet.com.