Connecticut Veterans Wartime Service medals were presented by State Sen. Beth Bye in a ceremony on Thursday.
By Ronni Newton
Nearly three-dozen West Hartford veterans were honored Thursday afternoon at the State Capitol as each received the Connecticut Veterans Wartime Service Medal in a special ceremony.
The following West Hartford veterans (listed in alphabetical order) received the medal, according to Bye’s office:
Herbert Max stands with Senator Beth Bye and Department of Veterans’ Affairs Commissioner Sean Connolly after being presented with the Connecticut Wartime Service Medal at a ceremony at the State Capitol in Hartford organized by Senator Bye. Over two dozen armed services veterans from West Hartford were given the medal that honors Connecticut veterans with qualifying wartime military service. (November 19, 2015) Submitted photo
Richard Bue
Charles Cattell
Burton Christensen
Gregory Clark
James Connelly
Lawrence DeJohn
Donald DeRoches
Francis Droney
Wayne Ferguson
Benjamin Goldfarab
Paul Grady
Robert Hall
Kenneth Hungerford
Edward Jacovino
Charles Kattel
William Krukas
William Krysinski
Roger LeBlanc
Pasquale Leon
Gordon Mackenzie
Herbert Max
Gary McBride
Linda Mead
Richard Mislivets
William O’Connor
Francis Pallotti
Oscar Rivera
Moises Salas
Michael Seder
John Seifel
Richard Thibodeau
The Connecticut legislature established the Veterans Wartime Service Medal in 2005 to honor all veterans who served in the military during wartime. The practice of presenting a wartime service medal to veterans had been discontinued after World War I, according to a news release from Bye’s office.
Department of Veterans Affairs Commissioner Sean Connolly joined Bye at the ceremony, and affixed the medals to each veteran’s lapel.
Images of each veteran receiving their medal can be viewed by clicking here for a link to Flickr.
“One of the amazing things about veterans is not only would you sacrifice your life, or sacrifice a good portion of your lives serving overseas or in some other capacity for your country, very often when you returned home you continued your selfless sacrifice to others and your community by serving as athletic coaches, as elected state and local officials, or on some board or commission or nonprofit agency,” Bye told the veterans. “It was an honor today to shake your hand, to look you in the eye, and to say thank you.”
Bye closed the ceremony with a prayer for peace, following the Retiring of the Colors.
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