LYNNFIELD — Tony Tropeano and Sons Artistic Masonry is donating six workers and countless hours for the veneer work on the new Lynnfield Veterans Memorial on the Town Common.
Tropeano and Sons, a company based in town, is owned by local resident Tony Tropeano Sr. Two of Tropeano’s sons, Pfc. Tony Tropeano Jr. and Staff Sgt. Joe Tropeano, work for their father and are working on the new memorial. The four other workers are Tony Tropeano Sr., his brother, Sgt. Ben Tropeano; Chris Hicks; and Peabody resident Equipment Operator Tim Connors.
Connors served in the U.S. Naval Construction Battalions, also known as the Navy Seabees, during the Vietnam War era from 1973 to 1977, Ben Tropeano served in the Massachusetts Army National Guard from 1981 to 1987, Tony Tropeano Jr. served in the U.S. Army from 2008 2012, and Joe Tropeano enlisted in 2019 and still serves in the Air Force National Guard Reserves.
Local resident Col. Joe Connell said he has been working on the project since it started six years ago. The Select Board at the time formed a committee of 11 people to work on the new veterans memorial.
Connell served for 30 years in the Army. He moved to Lynnfield in December 2011 and served in active duty as the Massachusetts National Guard advisor until 2014.
The committee presented four designs to the Select Board and chose Connell’s proposal, he said.
“We wanted to make the memorial something that would fit perfectly in Lynnfield,” Connell said.
The front of the memorial will feature a veneer wall, which Tony Tropeano and Sons has been building, to match similar architecture found around the town, he said.
Connell said he and Tony Tropeano Sr. grew up together in Wakefield and have been friends since first grade.
“Tony is doing this all free of charge with his sons, which is an absolutely enormous amount of money for him to do,” Connell said.
He said the town is “eternally grateful” and its “gratitude is over the top.”
When the town first announced the plans for this memorial, Connell said he remembers Tony Tropeano Sr. volunteering to build the wall.
“Tony was really adamant about, ‘I’ve got to do this. I want to do this as a Lynnfield guy with me and my two boys.’ And I said, ‘Tony, absolutely,’” Connell said.
Tony Tropeano Sr. said he owes Connell a “debt of gratitude” for starting this project.
He had special shirts made for his team for this project that read, “If you love your freedom, thank a veteran.”
“There’s nothing more important than veterans and acknowledging veterans and what they’ve done,” Tony Tropeano Sr. said.
“I’m hoping to see that so many people enjoy this space, which they really should,” he said. “This space did nothing for years and years and years, and now to reflect upon what veterans did for all of us is huge for the town. I think it’s going to be a tremendous gathering spot and I think Veterans Day and Memorial Day ceremonies are just going to be great in Lynnfield now.”
As of press time, there were 1,059 names of veterans set to be added to the wall. Both Tony Tropeano Jr. and Joe Tropeano will have their names on the wall. People who served in the military while they were Lynnfield residents can have their names added to the memorial, Connell said.
He said each of the following wars will have a granite plate on the memorial: the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Mexican War, Civil War, World War I, World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War, Operation Desert Storm/Desert Shield, Iraq War, Afghanistan War, and Global War on Terrorism, along with a plate for peacetime veterans.
The memorial will include the crests of all six of the branches of the U.S. military and feature the town seal in the center, Connell said.
The memorial is expected to be completed by the end of September, with a grand-opening ceremony scheduled for this Veterans Day, he added.
“This will be hands-down one of the best memorials in the state, from the quality of work being done on this (and) with everyone’s name from the Revolutionary War going forward up until the Global War on Terrorism,” he said.
