Vets honored at Scituate luncheon

Dunn, and many of the other veterans from World War II to today’s Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts were treated to a turkey buffet at the River Club and were remembered for their sacrifices as well as the sacrifice of those who did not return home from foreign wars.

Air Force veteran Chaplain Eleanor Grossman held back tears as she read a prayer before the luncheon. “We remember those who gave their lives,” Grossman said.

Ceremonies included students from St. Luke's Episcopal Church Sunday school program and members of Cub Scouts Wolf Den Pack 128, who led veterans and their families in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Four years ago, Scituate’s veterans reestablished the dormant American Legion post. Many said the Veterans of Foreign War post, which shares many of the same members, has served as a gathering place and watering hole, but not a place for community activities and ceremonies.

The rejuventated American Legion post has been holding the Veterans Day luncheon, and throngs of veterans have been marched in the town’s Memorial Day Parade, compared to just z few uniform-clad vets in previous years.

Ed Covell, an Army veteran from the Vietnam War, and Post 144’s commander, said Scituate veterans faded into the community after Vietnam, unwilling to make public appearances because of antiwar sentiment.

But in the 1980s, protesters and veterans from that conflict began coming to terms with each other. Since the Iraq War in 1991 and the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, Covell said, soldiers have been thanked and honored for their service instead of spit on and attacked—a situation that has opened doors for Vietnam veterans.

“I have been thanked more in the last two years for my service than in the last 40,” Covell said. “To be fair, it’s only in the last few years that I haven’t been hiding."