AMHERST — As the son of a military veteran awarded a Purple Heart and Bronze Star during World War II, Town Manager Paul Bockelman saw the scars of war, even if his father was reticent about his combat experience.
With Amherst becoming one of nearly 200 cities and towns across Massachusetts designated as a Purple Heart Community, to honor those wounded or killed while serving in the Armed Forces, Bockelman used a ceremony Friday afternoon to appreciate both residents and the municipal employees in the police and fire departments and the Department of Public Works, who have served in the military.
“Today, we remember all those who have sacrificed, and their families who have endured,” Bockelman said.
A week after the official Purple Heart Day on Aug. 7, and a Town Council proclamation issued in March, the ceremony, on the plaza in front of Town Hall, unveiled the four signs that will be displayed at various entry points to town, to make it known to those coming to Amherst that it is a Purple Heart Community.
Bockelman also talked about his Purple Heart father and his mother, who was in the Navy. He emphasized the need to continually support those who have come to the United States.
Council President Mandi Jo Hanneke and District 2 Councilor Lynn Griesemer read the proclamation at the ceremony, which also included the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance, invocation and closing prayer by Episcopalian Rev. Christopher Carlisle, and comments by Daniel Nye, the director of Veterans Services.
It was an easy process to become a Purple Heart town, involving the proclamation and commitment to put up the signs, Bockelman said, though it took several years of advocacy, notably from Amherst resident and veteran Rob McAllister, a Purple Heart recipient, who was on hand with the American Legion Post 148 Color Guard.
“I’m so glad for Amherst to do this,” said McAllister, before the ceremony began. “I’m really proud and happy this is happening for the veterans who died on the battlefield, and for those who came back.”
In 2004, McAllister was in the turret of a Humvee, traveling near the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, when he took shrapnel in his legs, abdomen and back from an ambush attack. His injuries occurred about a year after he was one of the first American combat troops on the ground during the war.
“This is for the Purple Heart veterans who are not here, for those who earned it on the battlefield,” McAllister said.
McAllister stood at attention with other members of the Color Guard, displaying a U.S. flag, a POW-MIA flag and an American Legion flag.
One member of the Color Guard, Paul Clevenger, adjutant for the American Legion Post 148 in Amherst, said Legion members had waited many years for the Purple Heart designation, with some pushing for it well before the pandemic. “It’s been a long time in coming,” Clevenger said.
While Clevenger, a lifelong Amherst resident, reached out to members and others, McAllister was the only Purple Heart recipient believed to be in attendance. Still, there is hope that more will come forward to be recognized.
Al Varelas, who served in the Marine Corps in Vietnam and was wounded three times, is the regional commander for Region 1 of the Military Order of the Purple Heart.
“We welcome into the Purple Heart family the town of Amherst,” Varelas said.
Varelas is confident there are many others in town, even if they have died since returning, and their families likely would still have the award and other mementos.
A database is being developed at the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor in Newburgh, New York. The hope is to eventually have records of the 1.9 million awarded since 1917.
Varelas, who was in Vietnam during Operation Niagara, a significant air support campaign in early 1968, attends several Purple Heart ceremonies each year, including a recent one in North Adams. He invited those to come to the U.S.S. Constitution, also known as Old Ironsides, on Aug. 22, which will become a Purple Heart ship that day.
A twice monthly veterans breakfast and an annual salute to veterans breakfast on Veterans Day are among ways Amherst is increasing its recognition of those in military service.
In fact, Hanneke said that honoring veterans is one of the most important things councilors do in their work.
