Westport artist Stevan Dohanos’ “Honor Roll.” Showing our original Town Hall (now Massi Co restaurant), it was a Saturday Evening Post cover on December 4, 1943.
The Honor Roll today, on Veterans Green across from the Myrtle Avenue Town Hall. (Illustration and photo/Amy Schneider)
A color guard, speakers — including Vietnam veteran Jay Direnberger and 2 Staples High School seniors — along with recognition of veterans highlight today’s Veterans Day ceremony.
The event is in the Town Hall auditorium at — appropriately — 11 a.m.
The public is invited afterward to a free Veterans Day luncheon and open bar at VFW Post 399 (465 Riverside Avenue).
Ed Keehan (Edyo) should be remembered for his diligent effort in getting the WWII memorial built on Veterans Green. Edyo served in the US Navy during that war and was a dedicated veteran throughout his life.
Let’s not forget Liberty Tremonte.
one of five brothers, Liberty enlisted in the U.S. Army and immediately recruited to OSS because of his language skills.
Liberty was one of fifteen soldiers captured during an undercover mission to destroy a main pathway for war materials and transportation.
The fifteen men were listed as MIA until a year later when a mass grave was discovered, all fifteen men were executed, in uniform and their hands tied behind their backs.
Liberty was 24 years old. He is buried in Florence, Italy.
Ed Keegan certainly does deserve great credit for the WWII memorial. He and my father, who worked on the design and prepared the plans for the installation, spent countless hours getting the memorial approved and constructed. My memory is that they both took up at least a year of Diane Farrell’s time to get this done. Much credit goes to Diane as well, who gave her tireless support to the project. I believe I still have all of the various iterations of the original design drawings. I should get those over to the Westport Historical Society – – oh wait…