Milford 2024 Memorial Day Parade Features Local Firefighter, Marine

MILFORD, MA — The upcoming Memorial Day parade in Milford is part of a nearly 160-year tradition that pays tribute to military personnel who lost their lives in service to their country.

The 2024 Memorial Day events on Monday is the highlight of the three-day Memorial Day Weekend — May 25-27 this year.

For this year's parade, a local firefighter and Marine will serve as Grand Marshal of the town parade. Like in past years, Milford's ceremony will include stops at war memorials in the downtown area.

Here's more from a news release:

John A. Pilla, Director of Veterans Services for the town of Milford, has announced that the annual Memorial Day Parade will be held on Monday.

Assembly of divisions will take place on Veterans Memorial Parkway (Medway Road, Route 109) at 9:30 a.m. The parade will step off at 10 a.m.

The parade will proceed up East Main Street to Calzone Park where a brief ceremony will be held. The parade will then continue up Main Street and end at Draper War Memorial Park where a speaking program will take place.

This year's Grand Marshal is William "Billy" Collins, a member of the Milford Fire Department. Collins is a Marine veteran of Operation Desert Storm/Desert Shield. He is married and has two grown children. He has been a member of the Milford Fire Department for the past 20 years.
Master of Ceremonies will be Gail (Arcudi) Reichert, a Navy Veteran.

If the parade is cancelled because of inclement weather, the speaking ceremony will be held at the Italian American Veterans Post 40 on Hayward Field at 10 a.m.

The history of Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, dates back to 1868, when Gen. John A. Logan called for a day of remembrance to honor the Northern lives lost amid battle during the Civil War that had ended just a few years earlier, according to History.com. As time passed, more and more people called it Memorial Day, and it became a federal holiday in 1971.

Waterloo, New York, is considered the birthplace of Memorial Day. The town’s observance on May 5, 1866, predated Logan’s call for a day of remembrance. Local businesses closed and residents decorated the graves of fallen soldiers with flowers and flags.

Until World War I, the holiday honored only those soldiers who died while fighting for the Union in the War, as Southern states honored their war dead on a separate day. After the 116,000-plus American deaths in World War I, the tradition changed to remember all who have died while serving in the military.

Every year, a national moment of remembrance is held at 3 p.m. local time on Memorial Day. No matter where they are or what they’re doing, Americans are asked to pause for one minute in silence to remember military personnel who have given their lives in service to their country. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, the midday time was chosen because it’s a time when many Americans will be enjoying their freedoms on a national holiday.