Brewster Residents Told To ‘Remember The Freedoms’ U.S. Enjoys

BREWSTER – More than 100 residents and town officials gathered on Monday at a Memorial Day ceremony held inside the town’s spacious fire station, where several speakers and Brewster police and fire honor guards paid their respects to the United States service members who gave their lives in defense of the nation’s freedom and values.

Those who spoke at the ceremony, moved indoors due to rain showers, were emcee Amanda Bebrin of the Brewster Select Board, Pastor Steve Trudel of Cape Cod Bible Alliance Church, Retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General David Valcourt, and his U.S. military spouse Diane Valcourt, who helps officiate Army funerals and comfort military family members at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. 

Diane Valcourt is a member of the Arlington Ladies, a group of volunteers founded in 1948 to attend funeral services at Arlington National Cemetery to ensure that someone attends the funeral of every soldier, sailor, airman or member of the Coast Guard buried there.

The ceremony was also graced by music from the Nauset Regional Middle School chorus and band, including the national anthem, America the Beautiful and Taps. 

Pastor Trudel, a 31-year resident of Brewster, told all those who gathered on Monday to “remember the freedom we enjoy has come at such a high cost,” and urged all to “live lives worthy of the sacrifice” that the fallen have made, finishing to applause, as did all three speakers.

General Valcourt thanked the crowd for showing up “even in the rainy weather,” because it meant they understood “the true meaning of Memorial Day. You recognize the connection between the sacrifice of the nation’s fallen, the grief carried by their families, and the freedom and liberties that we as Americans all enjoy today.”

Valcourt also noted what he called the “incredibly special meaning” of this Memorial Day, especially in Massachusetts.

 “This year marks the 250th anniversary of our nation’s founding. And those of us who live in freedom in Massachusetts have much to reflect on, since it was in our state that the army earned the first of 150 battle streamers. And that first battle was at Lexington, Mass. on April 19, 1775,” Valcourt said. 

He also pointed out that Memorial Day was founded a century after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, on May 30, 1868, to honor the nearly 652,000 killed on both sides of the U.S. Civil War, “to help the nation continue to heal its wounds” and “grasp the scale of that loss,” which was comparable to wiping out “about 65 towns the size of Brewster.”

General Valcourt also suggested the nation also honor on Memorial Day “fallen policemen, firefighters, who risk their lives each day to protect our communities and our freedom.” 

After he concluded his remarks, the general turned the podium over to Diane Valcourt, who explained the volunteer work of an Arlington Lady. “No one should be buried alone without someone to acknowledge their sacrifice and service,” she said, adding the organization believes someone should always be there who will be “grateful for their service and sacrifice” and comfort family members. 

Valcourt said she typically goes to Arlington one day a month to attend funerals along with one or two other Arlington Ladies who are part of the day’s “official burial detachment.” She described the experience, with her voice at times cracking with emotion, as being there to add “a touch of human kindness and softness” to the formal ceremony.

They also kneel before family members of the service member, she said, and hand over personally written notes of condolences and tell them their service members “will always be remembered and have our eternal gratitude. An army funeral is extremely emotional. I still find the sound of a 21-gun salute and Taps haunting,” she said.