Melrose Veterans Day 2022: Ceremony Plans, Donations

MELROSE, MA — Melrose will hold Veterans Day observances on Friday with a ceremony spanning multiple locations in town, the city announced.

As ceremonies move forward, a nonprofit is also seeking donations to help maintain city veterans memorials.

Melrose Veterans Day events will kick off on Friday with a ceremony at 10 a.m. at the Vietnam Reflection area of the Knoll, which sits across from Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School.

A second portion of ceremony will follow at the Vietnam Memorial on Main Street in Melrose. The event will then conclude at Melrose's Honor Roll, which is also on Main Street, where city officials plan to honor Melrose veterans killed in World War II, Korea and Vietnam.

“As a community, we need to show our support and gratitude for the living Veterans that make up approximately 20% of the US population today,” Melrose Veterans Services Officer Roseann Trionfi-Mazzuchelli said in a city announcement of Veterans Day plans last month. “We do that by honoring them, thanking them and their families for their sacrifices and communicating that we are here for them, always.”

A 21-year Army veteran, Trionfi-Mazzuchelli's role in Melrose also has her providing services in Saugus and Wakefield.

Beyond ceremonies this week, the city of Melrose recently noted donation options as another way for community members to support veterans on Veterans Day.

The Friends of Melrose Veterans Advisory Board is collecting donations to support the upkeep of area memorials. This comes as the city looks to build a new memorial to honor surviving families of members of the armed forces who are killed in action.

Anyone interested in donating to support Melrose veterans memorials can send a check to “Friends of the Melrose Veterans Advisory Board, Inc.”, in care of Melrose Veteran Services, Attn: Ro Mazz, 201 West Foster Street., Melrose, MA 02176.

Veterans Day takes place on Nov. 11 annually on the anniversary of the armistice that ended hostilities in World War I in 1918. President Woodrow Wilson marked the first anniversary of the armistice as “Armistice Day” in 1919. Congress then helped codify the day as a legal holiday in 1938 before changing the “Armistice Day” name to “Veterans Day” in 1954 after World War II and the Korean War, as noted in a history on the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs website.

Melrose city offices will be closed on Friday due to the holiday.

Trash pickup will be delayed by one day.