Town packs Legion for annual Memorial Day event
By Jay Turner
Residents of all ages gathered at the Legion hall for the town’s annual Memorial Day ceremony. (Jay Turner photo)
Despite persistent showers and a late change of venue, the Canton community came out in impressive numbers on Monday to honor America’s servicemen and women at a solemn and moving ceremony held at the American Legion Post 24 hall.
More than 150 people turned out for the event, which was moved indoors to the Legion and proceeded as planned, with the annual parade portion canceled as a result of the uncertain forecast. Among the attendees were several local veterans, as well as a number of town leaders, police and fire personnel, and scout troop members.
Rather than having a single keynote speaker, Canton Veterans Agent Arafat Knight decided this year to have each of the Veterans Funeral Honor Guard members in attendance introduce themselves to the crowd and share a bit about their military service.
“Canton is the only community that actually has its own honor guard made up of veterans within the community from all different branches,” noted Knight. “In the last 25 years since it was established, the honor guard has done over 840 funerals.”
Members who spoke at the event included Eric Borman, Maureen Carroll, Carn Cote, Ed Lehan, Bob Moritz, Jim O’Neill, and Carin Klipp.
Carroll, a retired Navy captain and JAG officer whose military career spanned three decades, was also introduced by Knight as this year’s parade grand marshal. Noting that she had inherited the call to serve from her father and grandfather, James F. Collins and James P. Collins, Carroll reflected on the importance of the holiday to her and her siblings.
“It’s a sad occasion, but it’s also a celebration of [America’s veterans] and the choices they made to serve their country,” she said. “Because it is a choice — volunteering to protect, to honor, to sacrifice on behalf of your country — and it’s really amazing what these people do.”
Carroll recalled how her father had just finished his first year at MIT and was at the start of a promising baseball career when he joined the Navy during World War II.
“He was a torpedoman 2nd class and served in the Pacific Theater,” Carroll said. “And while he never talked about the seriousness of it, we understood, and he raised myself and my four brothers to serve and continue on with generosity.”
Also reflecting on the sacrifices made by his own father was O’Neill, who went on to serve himself in Korea with the U.S. Army’s 7th Battalion, 2nd Air Defense Artillery. O’Neill said his father, who he described as his “favorite veteran,” saw extensive action during World War I and played a key role in driving German submarines from the English Channel.
Navy Capt. Maureen Carroll was this year’s grand marshal.
During that time, his father was involved in several plane crashes, the most serious being the last one, where he suffered a broken neck and was falsely reported as having been killed in action. “After the war, he never looked back, he never complained, and he would do it again if he was here today,” said O’Neill. “He volunteered for the duration and I have great respect for the veterans who saw action.”
Susan Harrington, the newly named chair of the Canton Select Board, also recalled the service of a beloved family member — her late father-in-law, Herbert T. Fishman, a naval aviator and veteran of two wars who was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors in 2004.
“Attending that funeral was one of the most profound experiences of my life,” noted Harrington. “To stand on that sacred ground and to feel in your bones the weight of what so many have given is a moving and life-changing experience. It is not abstract; it is real and it endures.”
Harrington urged each person in attendance to “set aside the noise of daily life just for a short while” and remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice. At the same time, she said, “We must always ask hard questions before sending our sons and daughters into harm’s way, and we must commit to standing with those who serve before, during, and long after their service ends.”
Other speakers included Thomas Hennelly, who recited the Memorial Day proclamation by Governor Maura Healey, and this year’s Boys and Girls State representatives from Canton High School, juniors Minh Hong, Michael Ryan, Sameeksha Nair and Isabella Holland, who each recited a poem. The ceremony concluded outside with a roll call of Canton’s 77 fallen heroes who were killed in action in the Civil War, WWI, WWII, Korean War, Vietnam War and Iraq War.
Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=134186
Posted by Jay Turner
on May 28 2026. Filed under Top Stories.
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