NAHANT — At the town’s 136th Memorial Day Parade and Ceremony Monday morning, Rev. Scott Elliott of the Nahant Village Church delivered a solemn and patriotic prayer expressing gratitude for the men and women who died serving in the military.
“We lift up a prayer for peace. Lead the leaders of the world to the day when they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning books, to a day when nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore,” Rev. Elliott said. “God, we long for your peace, for your shalom. Thank you for those who have fought for it, and most especially for those who have died for it. May we live lives worthy of their sacrifice.”
Crowds cheered from their porches and front lawns as the Nahant Police Department Honor Guard led a parade of hundreds from the intersection of Nahant Road and Spring Road, along Spring Road to Emerald Road, then to the Nahant Town Wharf for the Sea Services Ceremony.
There, U.S. Coast Guard members honored fallen sea-service members with a 21-gun salute and a performance of “Taps,” a bugle call used in the armed forces to signify “lights out.” It is commonly played at military funerals as a final “lights out” for fallen service members.
The parade — which included distinguished Nahant veterans such as Richard Lombard, who fought in Vietnam; and Virginia Fiske, who served in the Women’s Army Corps during World War II — reformed and marched to Greenlawn Cemetery for the main ceremony.
Following Rev. Elliott’s prayer, Swampscott High School senior Colby Godwin read Gov. Maura Healey’s proclamation of Memorial Day.
“Throughout our country’s history, thousands of Massachusetts citizens have fought in wars and conflicts to defend our safety and ways of life, and whereas their legacy of patriotism and dedication to the country is an inspiration to all Americans,” Godwin read.
Additionally, Johnson School sixth-grade student Ione Byam Miller — who placed first in a recital contest last week — recited the Gettysburg Address with all of the previously-selected reciters behind her.
The crowd enclosing Greenlawn Cemetery stood in silence while the names of Nahant’s fallen were read.
“Today, we take time to remember those who served our nation in times of conflict and peace, especially the men and women who over the centuries made the full ultimate sacrifice for our country. We remember those veterans who never took off their uniform in which they served. They are true American heroes,” said Memorial Day Committee Chair Ed Manzano.
