AI-generated transcript of Medford Patriot's Day ceremony 2016

[k3Xg1illaRI_SPEAKER_11]: All right, thank you, Mrs. Lindsey. Still with guests, friends, family, welcome to the City of Medford's Patriots Day Ceremony. As previously stated, my name is Michael Durham. After five years of active duty military service, my family and I have returned home to Medford. This is home for both myself and my wife, Brianna. In fact, we're high school sweethearts up at Medford High. We got married shortly after college and went on active duty together and bounced around the nation and the world. So, it's nice to be back. We have both sets of grandparents here in the crowd today. When we left, there were only two of us. Now that we're back home, there's now four. So, plus two grandkids. I know they're happy that we're around. And I'm happy, too, to have our roots back in our hometown. So, you know, I was a little intimidated by coming out today and doing a public speech, especially performing at the level of professional public speakers like the mayor, Councilman Del Russo, who will talk to you today. And then I remembered that 90% of my target audience was already dead and buried, thanks to our location. So I really shouldn't worry too much. It's a good place to shake the rust off. Alright, like I said, just grateful to be here this morning. I've been repeatedly told to cover my credentials, so please excuse the following list. I usually like to be more modest, so bear with me. Alright, my first duty assignment was to the 4th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division. all the way for all you paratroopers out there. I was a platoon leader for a parachute recon platoon from 2011 to 2013. During which time I deployed to Kandahar and Helmand provinces in Afghanistan in the year 2012. Conducted over 14 air assault operations. And due to our troop success, we ended up winning a Valorous Unit Award, and also the Draper Award, which is the award for best reconnaissance organization in the 18th Airborne Corps, which encompasses a quarter million soldiers. So, that's something to be said. When we returned home in 2013, I ensured that the unit was ready for 18-hour, no-notice, worldwide deployment by parachute assault as part of the United States Global Reaction Force. We were on our tiptoes there for a second with the Syrian civil war going on, so I was fortunate not to jump into Syria in 2013. At the end of 2013, I developed a true standard operating procedure for multi-echelon training and command post operations, and was rated as the best lieutenant in the squadron. Due to my success, I was laterally transferred within the brigade to take over the platoon leader position for the multi-sensor signal intelligence and electronic warfare platoon in 2014. That makes me an expert in all ground-based signals intelligence. I ran the most effective single ground unit in the 82nd Airborne Division, as confirmed by NSA training records in 2014. At which point I was PCSed in my second duty assignment at Fort Chica, Arizona, where I was an executive officer for Bravo Company 304th Military Intelligence Battalion. At which case, I managed the organizational equipment for my company, worth over $130 million, to include 11 reconnaissance aircraft. I ensured my company was logistically sound in order to allow 23 Army forces to function, and we ended up training over 3,000 officers, soldiers, and airmen that year. My military education includes Air Assault School, Airborne School, Armor Officer Basic Leadership Course, Army Reconnaissance Course, Contracting Officer Representative and Field Ordering Officer Courses, Low Level Voice Intercept Course, Profit and Stag Operations Training, I think NSA related activities. the Intelligence Officer Transition Course, Military Intelligence Captain's Career Course, Weapons Intelligence Course, and the Master Gunner Electronic Warfare Signal Jamming Course. So, now that that's over, thank goodness. We can actually sit down and talk about patriots today. What do I believe Patriot's Day is a celebration of? Patriot's Day, for those of you who don't know, is a state holiday. It's only celebrated in three states. Massachusetts, Wisconsin, and Maine. It commemorates the anniversary of the battles of Lexington and Concord, which were the first battles of the American Revolutionary War. This holiday was originally celebrated on April 19th, which is the actual anniversary of the battle of 1775. However, since 1969, it was moved to 3rd Monday in April, which also coincides with Marathon Monday, Boston Marathon. So, for all of you who like to play trivia at Buffalo Wild Wings, now you'll be able to get those questions. I believe that everybody in the crowd has a basic understanding of what occurred in the battles of Lexington and Concord in 1775. But, in summary, for those who don't know, the Massachusetts colonial militiamen were able to successfully defend their weapons caches against a raid by the British Army Expeditionary Force from Boston. So, why should this event be significant to us here today, hundreds of years later? Well, those men and women were a group of people standing up against political injustice. Today is the day of remembrance for those brave enough to stand up and fight for the opportunity to be involved in their system of governance. Since the first battle of the Revolutionary War, hundreds of thousands of Americans have died to maintain this right of independence and self-governance. Today is the day to reflect upon that sacrifice. We honor those who have gone before us by involving ourselves in the processes of our government, local, state, and federal. We need to ensure that we're educated on the issues that affect our lives and the lives of our children. How do we prioritize what is important if we're not situationally aware? How do we ensure that our elected representatives are actioning what we want done if we are not educated and involved in our own system of government. Sorry kids, I'm almost done. Today is the day to honor those brave Americans who have gone before us and secured our rights. Ensure that you get registered to vote. Get educated on the issues. Honor the memory of those who have gone before you. Get involved in your government. That's what I believe Patriot Day is for. All right, so, without further ado, I know this is a little bit winded, so we're gonna move on to better speakers. We're now gonna hear the Pledge of Allegiance by the Medford Girl Scouts and Medford Boy Scouts. And simultaneously, or immediately thereafter, excuse me, the Star Spangled Banner will be played by the Medford High School Band. I'll ask all uniformed servicemen in the crowd to present the proper hand salute during the Pledge of Allegiance. And for everyone else, please ensure that you're standing, if at all possible, your hand over your heart. All right, thank you. Member Girl Scouts, please take it away. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

[Unidentified]: Oh, I see him now.

[SPEAKER_02]: I found him.

[k3Xg1illaRI_SPEAKER_11]: All right, that was fantastic. Thank you. All right, next we'll have the Concord Hymn by Ralph Waldo Emerson, which will be read by Ellie Hunt. She's a sixth grade student at the Isara School.

[SPEAKER_01]: By the rude bridge that arced the flood, their flags and ankles breathed unfurled. Here once the embattled farmer stood, and fire has shot her down the world. The foe of silence sits in silent sleep. A light could calm her in silent sleep, and time the ruined bridge has swept down the dark stream with seaward creeps. On this green bank by the soft stream, we set today a golden stone that memory made indeed for me remain. We, when, like our sires, our sons are gone, spirit that made those heroes dare, to die and leave their children free, the time and nature gently spare, the shaft we raise to them and thee.

[k3Xg1illaRI_SPEAKER_11]: Thank you, that was excellent. Next will be the invocation by Reverend Lambert Brandon, who's the community minister for the Sanctuary of United Church of Christ.

[SPEAKER_00]: Let us pray. Gracious God of majesty, mercy, and mystery, we call upon your spirit to be with us in a special way. We call upon you to, on this day of tradition and celebration, to show yourself to us, through us. And so we invoke your spirit of community. Thank you now for the families, friends, neighbors, visitors, daisies, brownies, juniors, Medford high students, and Medford baseball, players for being here and participating in this occasion. We invoke your spirit of safety. Thank you now for our firefighters, police officers, first responders, and all those who are vigilant and keep watch. We invoke your spirit of leadership. Thanking you now for our community organizers, our city officials, and especially our mayor. May she continue to lead us in diligence and with discernment. And we invoke your spirit of fun. Thanking you now for the entertainment and the excitement that will energize us to smile and to laugh. But most of all, may this time be one of happiness, joy, and great mirth. For today, we are not only Boston strong, but we are indeed Medford strong. And God, as we remember on this day, the shout heard all around the world, may this be the prayer heard all around your heaven. It is in love that we live, move, and have our being. And it is in the name of love that we pray this humble prayer. Amen.

[k3Xg1illaRI_SPEAKER_11]: Next will be our guest introductions and Governor Baker's Patriot's Day Proclamation by our Mayor, Stephanie Burke.

[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Thank you Lieutenant Durham and all for participating in this morning's remembrance. This could not have been possible without the many people that coordinated this event today. Officer Ernest Lindsay, the DPW, police, baseball, softball, everyone that's around us in the van. So thank you all so much for contributing to today's events. Also, including your local officials, we have State Senator Pat Jalen. Committee members Gally Kress and Roberts Gehry. We know how meaningful this day is in the pursuit and preservation of our liberties. As John F. Kennedy said, let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and success of liberty. May this fine city of ours live and breathe in its humble but proud roots, its vast diversity, and its devotion to a compassionate future. This liberty we speak of forever rests here in the city of Medford, our home. And with that being said, I'd like to read Governor Baker's proclamation. Bear with me. to come off of Massachusetts, a proclamation. Whereas, throughout the evening of April 18, 1775, Paul Revere and William Dawes rode through the countryside from Boston to Concord, informing the local militia that the British had mobilized and were headed to seize and destroy militia weapons and ammunition in Concord. And, whereas, by the early morning of April 19, 1775, the local Minutemen and the British Army had gathered on the Lexington Green, where the shocker around the world was fired, and eight Minutemen were killed, thus resulting in a retreat that the British continued on to conquer. And whereas at Concord's North Bridge a skirmish broke out which caused the first British casualties and an attempted British retreat back to Boston that failed as a result of Minuteman resistance. And whereas the battles of Lexington and Concord marked the beginning of the long struggle for American independence from Britain. And whereas today we remember and pay tribute to the patriots who gave their lives in pursuit of liberty and independence. Now, therefore, I, Charles D. Baker, Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, do hereby proclaim April 18, 2016 to be Patriots Day and urge all the citizens of the Commonwealth to take cognizance of this event and participate fittingly in its observance. given at the Executive Chamber in Boston the first day of April in the year 2016, and of the independence of the United States of America this 239th by His Excellency Charles Baker, Lieutenant Governor Solito, and William Francis Galvin, our Secretary of State. Thank you all.

[k3Xg1illaRI_SPEAKER_11]: Next, the Battle Hymn of the Republic will be played by the Montgomery High School Band. Excellent job. Now we'll listen to City Councilman President Fred DelRusso as he gives his Patriot's Day remarks.

[Fred Dello Russo]: 241 years ago, it was 12 by the village o'clock when he crossed the bridge into MetroTown. He heard the crowing of the cock and the barking of the farmer's dog, and felt the damp of the river flood that rises after the sun goes down. Well, we're finally fixing that bridge. That held a significant role in the foundation of our nation. Local patriots, people who were inspired by freedom, peace and prosperity, the opportunity to live fruitful lives and enjoy the fruits of their labor, stood up and were ready to take their place in what would happen. It wasn't easy. It took time, blood, sweat, and tears. But it got done. They built something which would speak to the ages, a new nation, a new community of people. As rumor has it, Paul Revere just didn't pass through Medford Square. He had a drink in the home of a local distiller and the captain of Medford militia, Isaac Hall. He stopped in the square. Now, if anybody was in a hurry to pass through the square, it was he. What a precedent, he said. A precedent we need to follow. The revolutionary impulse wasn't shared by all. In fact, some people had it pretty good here, and some were just comfortable in their ways. But as we reflect on our national roots today, let us consider our desire to build anew. our commitment to forging new bonds of community where newcomers and old settlers work together towards common greatness. As we did capitalize on what Metro Square had to offer, let us do the same. Building on good work done in years past, harvesting the desire in our citizens' hearts, may we continue on our plans to renew and build for the ages.

[k3Xg1illaRI_SPEAKER_11]: Next will be American Beautiful and also flags will be placed at the graves. It will be done by Medford High School band along with the Medford Girl Scouts and the Medford Boy Scouts. So without further ado. May you be with us on this day of great joy, this day of great triumph.

[SPEAKER_00]: and this day of remembrance. Amen.

[k3Xg1illaRI_SPEAKER_11]: A special thanks goes out to the Zinnia Medford's electrical division for coming out today and allowing us to have this event. It wouldn't have been possible without that division. Thank you for all the city workers who came out early and set this up for us. So, to conclude our ceremony, we'll hear God Bless America and then TAPS by the Bedford High School band. For TAPS, uniformed personnel, please render the appropriate salute. No further ado, band, you got it.

[SPEAKER_02]: uh

[k3Xg1illaRI_SPEAKER_11]: Thank you everyone for attending the first part of today's events at the East Elm Street Burial Ground.

[Fred Dello Russo]: Good, great.

[SPEAKER_02]: All right, I think he has a message for us.

[k3Xg1illaRI_SPEAKER_11]: I'm going to hand him the mic.

[SPEAKER_02]: An important message from Paul Revere.

[Unidentified]: Oh, no, he's running in. There he goes.

[SPEAKER_02]: Here they are, everybody. Let's hear it for Paul Revere.

Stephanie Muccini Burke total time: 3.33 minutes total words: 79	Fred Dello Russo total time: 2.62 minutes total words: 178