Berlin Plans Memorial Day Parade And Ceremony

From the Veterans Commission: This years Memorial Day Parade will start at 9:00 AM at St. Paul’s Church on Peck Street. The parade will continue to Farmington Avenue turning left onto Massirio Drive, passing VFW Post 10732, then a left onto Veterans Way and end at the Berlin Veterans Memorial Park where a Memorial Day Ceremony will take place. Between 9:45 and 10:05 AM. There will be an Invocation by a Friar from St. Paul’s Church. The Berlin High School Chorus, directed by Kathryn Scherer, will sing the National Anthem and America the Beautiful. The Berlin High School Redcoat Marching Band, directed by Jeff Sirois, will play a Patriotic Melody and Trumpeters, Natalie Kiczuk and Patryk Kleba will play Taps. There will be a rifle volley by the joint members of Veterans of Foreign Wars, Post 10732 and members of the American Legion Post 68.

This year’s guest speaker is Commissioner Sean M. Connolly.

Commissioner Sean M. Connolly began his service with the Connecticut Department of Veterans Affairs on March 16, 2015 and is currently a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve.

An East Hartford native, Commissioner Connolly returned home to Connecticut in 2010, joining Pratt & Whitney as Assistant Counsel supporting the Military Engines Division and most recently serving as Pratt & Whitney’s Global Ethics and Compliance officer. Prior to joining Pratt & Whitney, he was a Senior Associate at Greenberg Traurig, LLP in Washington, D.C. as a member of the Government Contracts and Homeland Security Practice Group.

Commissioner Connolly served on active duty for more than seven years and in a variety of positions. A Veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Connolly was a Prosecutor and Brigade Legal Advisor with the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) at Fort Campbell, Kentucky as well as in Kuwait and Iraq. He also previously served as Assistant Legal Advisor and Executive Officer for the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Office of the Appointing Authority for Military Commissions. His military awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Iraqi Campaign Medal and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal. He is also entitled to wear the Air Assault Badge and the Office of the Secretary of Defense Identification Badge.

An attorney, Commissioner Connolly received his undergraduate degree from Bryant University and his Juris Doctor from the Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law. He is a member of American Legion Post 95 in Hebron, the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8776 in Hebron, the 101st Airborne Division Association, the Association of the United States Army, and the Army Aviation Association of America. He also served as an elected member of the National Board of Directors of the Federal Bar Association and is a Past President of the Pentagon Chapter of the Federal Bar Association.

Commissioner Connolly is married to Carol A. Connolly, Esq. They have two boys, Sean (10) and Brendan (7) and a rescue puppy, Lucky and they make their home in Hebron.

In the event of rain the exercises will be held in the VFW Hall Post 10732, Massirio Drive at 9:00 AM.

Image via the Veterans Commission