Veterans Day Dedication Ceremony

Seeing the beautifully honed pieces of Vermont granite, etched with the names of Suffield’s veterans of the Global War on Terror and watching people feeling the broken surfaces of the new Veterans Memorial monuments made it worth every minute of effort for the past three years.

The Veterans Memorial Expansion Committee was established to expand the current memorial to create a memorial for the Global War on Terror as well as consideration for future conflicts. The committee members include Chairman David Gauthier, Vice Chairman Bill Moryto, Sal Covino, Tom Elmore, Kevin Goff, Raymond Hartford, Fritz King, Chris Nikolis and David Shute.

Every member brought their experience, perspective and passion to the task of honoring those Suffield veterans who served during the Global War on Terror (GWOT). Each played an important role in the design, detail and dedication of the stones now gracing the original Veterans War memorial. To include one member whose name is on the original memorial recalls the debates about determining the eligibility criteria, which helped shape the discussions and understanding of the selection process to provide perspective when considering those unique situations the committee faced.

Phase one of the committee’s charge was to seek out those veterans who- for whatever reason- were not listed on the original monument. Four veterans’ names were confirmed using the original committee’s eligibility criteria and added to the monument under the specific war in which they served.

Phase two was to create a suitable and complimentary monument to the magnificent original monument dedicated in 2003. The committee unanimously agreed that the new structure, whatever it may be, was to appear as if it were designed with the original in style and material, yet not to overpower it. Once the design was finalized, next came the process of gaining the required town approvals: Presentations to the Design Review Board, Historic District Commission, Planning and Zoning, and even building permits for the concrete foundations. Knowing the committee was on a tight schedule, all the Town agencies came together to ensure the Veterans Day 2024 deadline was met.

The concept of one stone broken into two and separated symbolizes how lives (and families) can be broken by war, and focused the committee’s mission of design, location and criteria. The expansion committee started with the same eligibility criteria as the original committee used more than twenty years ago. As you might expect, as before, unique situations existed that presented many challenges despite how simple the task might appear.

The expansion committee never made any one exception for an individual, but rather thoughtfully considered that situation and carefully and fairly amended the eligibility criteria for all potential veterans in that similar circumstance. These amendments were made by procedural motions and votes to be in keeping with the intent of the original committee’s criteria.

Leading these many discussions during the meetings held at the Suffield Police Department was the chairman of the Veterans Memorial Expansion Committee, David Gauthier, an Air Force veteran of twenty years. He was aware of the different categories of service and familiar with military terminology and culture. Dave is a diligent researcher who spent countless hours sifting through the internet and email exchanges to determine accurate dates, medals and service categories in order to make the selection process objective and fair to all applicants.

Dave led each meeting with strict adherence to procedure and agenda, while always allowing for members and public comments to be heard and given due consideration. He ensured every name and date were one hundred percent accurate: his long hours and hours of painstaking research and organization and documentation, coordinating and monitoring the installation were singularly impressive.

This brought us to November 11, 2024, Veterans Day. The annual ceremony was dedicated to the unveiling of the new GWOT monument on a beautiful autumn day with many veterans and citizens in attendance.

First Selectman Colin Moll led the ceremony, with comments by Dave Gauthier; the names on the monument were read by Selectman Kathie Harrington. Each half of the broken stone monument was unveiled by Gold Star families Richard and Linda Bixler and Brian and Karen Doyon. A solemn but fitting tribute to the monument’s theme, and a reminder that freedom is never free.