Through the Veterans’ Signs, We Hear Their Voice

Greenfield honors local veterans by replacing street signs

In an effort to honor Deerfield veterans who never came home from wars, Fred Beckta of the Memorial Day Committee of Deerfield worked with community volunteers to raise $5,000 for renewing signs along the streets of South Deerfield. Engraved with names of veterans, the restored signs continue a decades-long tradition of Memorial Day. 

Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day, as it was a celebration that involved decorating the graves of fallen heroes with American flags and bouquets since the end of the Civil War. Later in 1888, Congress recognized Decoration Day as a legal federal holiday, renaming it as Memorial Day. Subsequent World Wars then turned it into a day in remembrance of U.S army members who served for peace in all wars in addition to the Civil War.

Replacing the time-worn signs required more than just paint — Beckta explained that the Committee’s many initiatives relied on motivating the volunteers' participation and finding volunteers who were willing to endorse the project. 

According to Beckta, the task of restoring the signs themselves was a time-consuming step. The original signs were constructed in 2012, now rusted and “a struggle” to remove. Beckta estimated that he and his team spent close to 60 hours of labor renewing the signs. “We do this because we want to honor these people,” he said.

The signs honor 24 members of the Deerfield community who were killed in action (KIA). In 1898, one man was killed in the Spanish American War, while another was killed in Iraq in 2003. Of the 24, eight were graduates of Deerfield Academy who sacrificed their lives in World War II, including two brothers from Main Street who died five days apart.

Most of the fallen Deerfield veterans were enlisted in wars as young adults, aged from sixteen to eighteen years old. “Think about you guys at your age, or your age coming up, and you're out in the middle of a massive ocean and all of a sudden your ship is ripped apart by an explosion,” Beckta said.  

“People nowadays don’t get the same kind of feeling and passion towards these wars,” he added, explaining that these images are harder for the current generation to visualize or commiserate as historical wars become further away in time.

Currently one of the most significant veteran organizations is the Veterans of Foreign Wars organization, the chapter in Deerfield known as Hale-Clapp VFW Post 3295. The organization convened veterans of multiple wars in advocacy of veterans’ rights. Two of the key members of the Deerfield VFW were veterans Vincent Sarno, an active member of the post, and Rachael Otto, the post’s first female commander. 

Sarno served from 1995 to 2008 in the U.S. Air Force and explained that he “looked for enemy aircrafts, and sent friendly aircrafts to make them go away.” Otto was deployed to Kirkuk, Iraq, as a chaplains assistant.

For Otto and Sarno, the VFW provides a platform and community for veterans to connect with people who understand their own experiences. 

Otto and Sarno mentioned the VFW’s advocacy for a mother of South Deerfield veteran Greg Belanger. His mother, Kathy Belanger, is known as the Deerfield community’s “Gold Star Mother,” a term used to describe a mother who carries the grief of losing their child in war. 

The project involved the relocation of the scoreboard for primarily the baseball and field hockey teams of Frontier Regional School in South Deerfield . Belanger’s plaque, donated by Kathy, had always been under the old scoreboard, but moving the scoreboard would mean the plaque losing its previous relative position underneath the scoreboard, a position that holds sentimental value to Kathy

Kathy requested that the plaque honoring Greg be moved to the new scoreboard location as well. However, voices of opposition rose from the school board due to policy limitations. While Belanger could not advocate for himself, the VFW, together with the local community, was able to step in and continue in his memory. The veterans explained that the role of the VFW was to “serve as the visual representation of everybody who didn't come home.” 

Although the plaque only had Greg’s name on it, Sarno said that the sign was critical in their remembrance of all veterans and fallen relatives. He said the sign is “very representative of our own friends, the people we knew in our community, [and those] who didn't come home.”

The efforts of moving Greg’s plaque and renewing the signs commemorating veterans both draw towards a common endeavor of bringing awareness to the sacrifices made by the veterans community. Both the veterans of the VFW and Beckta reflected that veterans are not as featured in the news or public view as they have been in the past.

For the younger generation, an easy step can make a veteran’s day. Their interest in the stories of a veteran helps them feel seen. Otto said, “If you have the opportunity, you see someone wearing a hat that designates them as a veteran. Ask them for their story because a lot of times, they don't have anyone to tell. And just having a young person take interest could change someone's entire year.”

The prices paid by all veterans for the sake of their nation were extreme, Beckta acknowledged. “Freedom isn't free. And somebody has to pay that price. Someone has to be willing to pay that price,” he said.

After Scroll members thanked Sarno and Otto for their service, they said, “You were worth it.”

Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day, as it was a celebration that involved decorating the graves of fallen heroes with American flags and bouquets since the end of the Civil War. Later in 1888, Congress recognized Decoration Day as a legal federal holiday, renaming it as Memorial Day. Subsequent World Wars then turned it into a day in remembrance of U.S army members who served for peace in all wars in addition to the Civil War.

The signs play a significant role in parades hosted by the Memorial Day Committee during each summer. Replacing time-worn signs was a process that required more than just paint. Beckta explained that the Committee’s many initiatives relied on motivating the volunteers' participation and finding volunteers who were willing to endorse the project. 

According to Beckta, the task of restoring the signs themselves was a time-consuming step. The original signs were constructed in 2012, turning rusty and making the removal of the old signs “a struggle. It probably took 60 hours of labor to get all of these things done,” Beckta said. Yet, with a purpose in mind, the Committee pushed through the difficulties. Beckta added, “We do this because we want to honor these people.”

“These people” are service members from the Deerfield community, where 24 were killed in action (KIA). In 1898, one man was killed in the Spanish American War while another in Iraq in 2003. Of the 24, 8 were graduates of Deerfield Academy who sacrificed their lives in the Second World War, including two brothers from Main Street, Old Deerfield who died five days apart.

Most of the fallen Deerfield veterans were enlisted in wars as young adults, aging from sixteen to eighteen years old. “Think about you guys at your age, or your age coming up, and you're out in the middle of a massive ocean, and all of a sudden your ship is ripped apart by an explosion,” Beckta said.  

These images are harder for the current generation to visualize or commiserate as the time proceeds further and further away from the historical wars. Beckta said, “People nowadays don’t get the same kind of feeling and passion towards these wars.” This, however, does not stop the veterans who still bear the memories to connect with each other.

One of the most significant veteran organizations is the Veterans of Foreign Wars organization, the chapter in Deerfield being known as Hale-Clapp VFW Post 3295. The organization convened veterans of multiple wars in advocacy of veterans’ rights. Two of the key members of the Deerfield VFW were veterans Vincent Sarno, an active member of the post, and Rachael Otto, the post’s first female commander. 

Sarno served from 1995 to 2008 in the U.S. Air Force, explaining that he “looked for enemy aircrafts, and sent friendly aircrafts to make them go away.” Otto was deployed to Kirkuk, Iraq, as a chaplains assistant.

For Otto and Sarno, the VFW provides a platform and community for veterans to connect with people who understand their own experiences. 

Otto and Sarno mentioned the VFW’s advocacy for a mother of South Deerfield veteran Greg Belanger. His mother, Kathy Belanger, is known as the Deerfield community’s “Gold Star Mother”, a term used to describe a mother who carries the grief of losing their child in war. 

The project involved the relocation of the scoreboard for primarily the baseball and field hockey teams of Frontier Regional School in South Deerfield . Belanger’s plaque, donated by Kathy, had always been under the old scoreboard, but moving the scoreboard would mean the plaque losing its previous relative position underneath the scoreboard, a position that holds sentimental value to Kathy

Kathy requested that the plaque honoring Greg be moved to the new scoreboard location as well. However, voices of opposition rose from the school board due to policy limitations. While Belanger could not advocate for himself, the VFW, together with the local community, was able to step in and continue in his memory. The veterans explained that the role of the VFW was to “serve as the visual representation of everybody who didn't come home.” 

Indeed, though the plaque only had Greg’s name on it, Sarno said that the sign was critical in their remembrance of all veterans and fallen relatives. He said the sign is “very representative of our own friends, the people we knew in our community, [and those] who didn't come home.”

The efforts of moving Greg’s plaque and renewing the signs commemorating veterans both draw towards a common endeavor of bringing awareness to the sacrifices made by the veterans community. Both the veterans of the VFW and Beckta reflected that veterans are not as featured in the news or public view as they have been in the past.

For the younger generation, an easy step can make a veteran’s day. Their interest in the stories of a veteran helps them feel seen. Otto said, “If you have the opportunity, you see someone wearing a hat that designates them as a veteran. Ask them for their story because a lot of times, they don't have anyone to tell. And just having a young person take interest could change someone's entire year.”

The prices paid by all veterans for the sake of their nation were extreme, as Beckta acknowledged, “Freedom isn't free. And somebody has to pay that price. Someone has to be willing to pay that price.” 

After thanking Sarno and Otto for their service, they said, “You were worth it.”