Orleans Residents, Visitors Pay Respects On Memorial Day

ORLEANS – As residents and visitors proceeded from Town Cove onto Main Street Monday, they bypassed Veterans Memorial Park, deviating from the town’s long-standing tradition of hosting its annual Memorial Day programming at the intersection of Main Street and Route 28.

Instead, they made their way over to the village green next to Snow Library, which played host to this year’s program while work continues to restore the memorial park at Academy Place.

The change of venue aside, so much of Monday’s proceedings felt familiar. The event, equal parts warm and somber in mood, brought people together to honor and remember those who lost their lives in service of their country.

In Orleans, that includes 11 veterans dating back to the Civil War. On the green, 11 large American flags stood in honor of those local veterans who made the ultimate sacrifice.

“11 men. That was the cost,” said Kevin Higgins, chair of the town’s Veterans and Memorial Day committee. Attendees held an 11 second moment of silence for the veterans.

In his keynote speech, Retired Master Chief Petty Officer Jeff Smith of the United States Coast Guard paid special tribute to one of those local veterans, Sgt. Albert Massey of the Army Air Corps, whose family emigrated to America from Albania and eventually settled on Cape, first in Chatham and later Orleans. 

Born in Worcester in 1919, Albert graduated from Orleans High School in 1937 and attended Rollins College in Florida before registering for the draft in 1941. He was called to duty in 1943, and was killed in action on July 17, 1944, when his aircraft crashed following a successful bombing mission over France.

“Four years later, as simply stated on his Orleans Cemetery burial card, Albert was brought home,” Smith said. Today, Sgt. Massey’s memory is memorialized at Albert P. Massey Square at the corner of Main Street and Locust Road. 

For other speakers at Monday’s ceremony, including Vietnam veterans Mon Cochran and Andrew deLory, the memories of their fallen friends and comrades were still very much front of mind decades later. Cochran’s cousin, Bing Emerson, was killed in Vietnam in late 1968 when his helicopter crashed after being hit by a rocket propelled grenade.

“The gaping gash in the fabric of the Emerson family by Bing’s death continues to be felt more than 50 years later,” he said.

deLory, a retired U.S. Army specialist and member of the Veterans and Memorial Day committee, remembered his friend Stephen Warner, whom he served alongside as an Army photojournalist. Warner was killed in 1971 when the armored vehicle he was traveling in while on assignment in Laos was struck by a rocket. 

“He remains the most profound example for me on this Memorial Day,” he said.

Near the podium, an empty table recognized those prisoners of war who never returned home from service

“As we look upon this empty table, do not remember ghosts from the past,” said Jon Fuller, a retired senior chief with the U.S. Navy and member of the Veterans and Memorial Day committee. “Remember our comrades. Remember those who were depended on in battle.”

Select Board member Michael Herman thanked voters at the recent annual town meeting who approved local adoption of the Heroes Act, which provides a 100 percent property tax exemption for disabled veterans in town. In his speech, he echoed the sentiments of President John F. Kennedy.

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not uttered in words, but to live by them,” he said.

Music at Monday’s ceremony was provided by the Nauset Regional Middle School Band and Choir.