BACK IN SESSION
By State Representative Don Humason, Jr.
May 24, 2008
While the Senate finished up their debate of the state budget this Thursday, the House was back in full formal session.
Legislators received news that Governor Deval Patrick appointed one of our House colleagues to be the new Registrar of Motor Vehicles. Representative Rachel Kaprielian (D-Watertown) was tapped to head the RMV and will give her farewell speech to the House next Wednesday during formal session.
On a personal note, I’d like to offer my congratulations to my sister Apryl and her fiancé Hank Sheldon. They are getting married Saturday afternoon at Stanley Park. I’m going to be their officiant. I obtained a One Day Designation from the Commonwealth to solemnize their wedding. It looks like its going to be a beautiful day!
Monday is Memorial Day.
In Westfield, and across the Commonwealth, citizens will gather for parades and ceremonies to remember and honor the heroes who have made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our values and our nation.
This day, originally known as “Decoration Day” after the Civil War, serves both as a tribute to those who have fallen as well as an opportunity for us as citizens to reaffirm our commitment to the ideals and values they died defending.
America’s brave men and women have embodied the history and core values of our nation since the fight for independence began. Each and every person, man or woman, who died during America’s many conflicts was a loved one cherished by family and friends. Each death was a loss to a community and the nation.
These soldiers never sought recognition, grand parades, or eulogies extolling their virtues, for, as General Douglas McArthur once said, they “had written their own history.” What is the history they have written?
McArthur reflected: “But when I think of his patience under adversity, of his courage under fire, and of his modesty in victory, I am filled with an emotion of admiration I cannot put into words. He belongs to history as furnishing one of the greatest examples of successful patriotism. He belongs to posterity as the instructor of future generations in the principles of liberty and freedom. He belongs to the present, to us, by his virtues and by his achievements.”
On this Memorial Day we remember the 91 Massachusetts service members who, since September 11, 2001, have made the ultimate sacrifice in service to their country. We come together on Memorial Day to celebrate their lives and those of all who have gone before.
Our debt to them is forever beyond our power to repay. Yet, the Legislature of this Commonwealth has continually striven to provide the support our veterans and their families need.
The “Welcome Home Bill” has provided veterans and their families with one of the most comprehensive benefits packages in the nation. Recognizing the continuing needs of our desert war veterans, the Legislature recently took action creating the Commission to Study the Hidden Wounds of War on Returning Massachusetts Service Members, a group charged with investigating the mental health effects of war on Bay State citizens returning from active duty.
On Memorial Day, as the citizens of Westfield, the Commonwealth, and the world gather to remember and honor the sacrifices of these American heroes, soldiers continue to return from distant battlefields.
These men and women represent the best and brightest our country has to offer. They are the past, present, and future standard-bearers for the traditions and values we all hold dear.
We honor them, and the sacrifices of their comrades and their friends. We decorate their graves. We share pictures and stories, laughter and tears. And we commit never to forget them.
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Representative Don Humason and his legislative aide Sarah Latour may be reached at their Westfield District office, 64 Noble Street, Westfield, MA 01085, 568-1366.
Their Boston address is State House Room 542, Boston, MA 02133, (617) 722-2803.
Email address: Rep.DonaldHumason@Hou.state.ma.us