Major Ronald Santagati, US Air Force: Korean and Vietnam Wars ~ VALLEY PATRIOT OF THE MONTH, HERO IN OUR MIDST

Major Ronald Santagati, US Air Force: Korean and Vietnam Wars ~ VALLEY PATRIOT OF THE MONTH, HERO IN OUR MIDST

By: John Cuddy – Feb. 2020 Raised in Lawrence, Massachusetts, Ronald Santagati is now living in Salem, New Hampshire with his wife (and high school sweetheart) Joan, to whom he has been married to for nearly sixty-five years. During our Saturday morning meeting over coffee and Tripoli cookies in his kitchen, we started with a […]

U.S. Navy Chief Quartermaster Marshall Rogers Sr. ~ HERO IN OUR MIDST, VALLEY PATRIOT OF THE MONTH

U.S. Navy Chief Quartermaster Marshall Rogers Sr. ~ HERO IN OUR MIDST, VALLEY PATRIOT OF THE MONTH

By: John Cuddy – December, 2019 Marshall Rogers Sr. was born in 1921 on his family dairy farm in North Andover, MA. He was the second youngest of nine children. He claims to have walked over 3,000 miles as a child while going to school in North Andover making two round trips per day, going […]

Pat Walor of the 9th Infantry! Dairy Farmer, WW II Infantryman, American Hero! ~ VALLEY PATRIOT OF THE MONTH

Pat Walor of the 9th Infantry! Dairy Farmer, WW II Infantryman, American Hero!   ~ VALLEY PATRIOT OF THE MONTH

By: John Cuddy -Oct.2019 Dracut’s Pat Walor was born on his family’s farm in Peabody, Massachusetts in 1923 – the second youngest of eleven children. His father was a dirt farmer (Pat’s own description of a vegetable farmer). He recalls his weekly trips into Faneuil Hall in Boston to sell their vegetables on commission. A […]

Chelmsford’s Mike Miskell, Another Local Member of Patton’s 3rd Army – VALLEY PATRIOT OF THE MONTH

Chelmsford’s Mike Miskell, Another Local Member of Patton’s 3rd Army – VALLEY PATRIOT OF THE MONTH

By: John Cuddy – April, 2019 Chelmsford’s Mike Miskell, like many of the men and women who served during World War II, formed a lifelong friendship with another soldier they served with during the war. Mike was with York, Pennsylvania’s George Meanor, a Technical Sargent in his unit, the US Army’s 217th Artillery. The two […]

Kasper Joseph Kfoury, Petty Officer 2nd Class US Coast Guard ~ HERO IN OUR MIDST – VALLEY PATRIOT OF THE MONTH

Kasper Joseph Kfoury, Petty Officer 2nd Class US Coast Guard ~ HERO IN OUR MIDST – VALLEY PATRIOT OF THE MONTH

By: John Cuddy – March, 2019 Lawrence’s Kasper Kfoury was present at two of the most iconic events that took place during the twentieth century in the United States. He, his brother and some friends took a train to New York’s Yankee Stadium on July 4, 1939, and they were sitting in the stands when […]

102-year-old Tony Zukas, US Army, World War II ~ VALLEY PATRIOT OF THE MONTH, HERO IN OUR MIDST

102-year-old Tony Zukas, US Army, World War II ~ VALLEY PATRIOT OF THE MONTH, HERO IN OUR MIDST

By: John Cuddy – Feb. 2019 Haverhill’s Anthony J “Tony” Zukas lived at Haverhill Crossing on Amesbury Road near Northern Essex Community College when I interviewed him. The students at Northern Essex Community College, and all of us really, can learn much from this World War II Veteran. Originally, from Scranton, Pennsylvania, he was the […]

Staff Sergeant Robert Belleau ~ HERO IN OUR MIDST, VALLEY PATRIOT OF THE MONTH

Staff Sergeant Robert Belleau ~ HERO IN OUR MIDST, VALLEY PATRIOT OF THE MONTH

By: John Cuddy – Jan. 2019 Dracut’s Robert Belleau is one of the many US Military Veterans in the Merrimack Valley of French Canadian heritage. He joined the new US Air Force, (formed out of the US Army Air Corps shortly after World War II) partly out of patriotism, and partly, (his words) to avoid […]

Audit Leads to Improved Reporting of Instances of Elder Abuse

Audit Leads to Improved Reporting of Instances of Elder Abuse

Audit found seven instances of serious abuse or neglect of seniors not reported to district attorneys After a report by State Auditor Suzanne M. Bump found the Executive Office of Elder Affairs (EOEA) and its contractors did not always properly report serious incidents of abuse or neglect of seniors to local district attorneys, the agency […]

HERO IN OUR MIDST – Commander Marilisa G. Elrod, Medical Corps, U.S. NAVY

HERO IN OUR MIDST – Commander Marilisa G. Elrod, Medical Corps, U.S. NAVY

  By: John Cuddy – November, 2018 In honor of Veteran’s day, November 11th, I sought out a Veteran that is still serving our nation; she is Commander Marilisa G. Elrod, Medical Corps (Undersea Medical Officer) United States Navy, the Associate Director for Professional Education at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth in Portsmouth, Virginia. In doing […]

Middleton’s Douglas Bryant – 5 Combat Patrols vs. the Japanese, Before He Turned 20 ~ HEROES IN OUR MIDST

Middleton’s Douglas Bryant – 5 Combat Patrols vs. the Japanese, Before He Turned 20 ~ HEROES IN OUR MIDST

VALLEY PATRIOT OF THE MONTH By: John Cuddy – September 2018 The Silent Service Middleton’s Douglas Bryant originally hailed from Amesbury, Massachusetts where his father worked in the automotive industry. Prior to World War II, Amesbury had a bustling automobile industry, but manufacturers such as the Walker Body Company did not survive the Great Depression. […]

Robert Crowley and “Saving Japan from the Red Menace” ~ VALLEY PATRIOT OF THE MONTH, HERO IN OUR MIDST

Robert Crowley and “Saving Japan from the Red Menace” ~ VALLEY PATRIOT OF THE MONTH, HERO IN OUR MIDST

By: John Cuddy – July, 2018 Lawrence’s Robert Crowley, a graduate of Central Catholic’s Class of 1944, had a unique role during and after World War II. Upon joining the U.S. Army, he was trained in Military Intelligence, with additional training in the Japanese language at Fort Holabird, outside of Baltimore, Maryland. He was then […]

Three Ladies and Some Grateful Veterans “…the VA saved my life”.

Three Ladies and Some Grateful Veterans “…the VA saved my life”.

  By: Joe D’Amore – July 16, 2018 This is what a veteran explained to me along with lots of heartfelt details about his life on a recent fishing trip organized by Dick George of 101st Airborne Division Association of Newburyport.   Mr George collaborated with several wonderful organizations to fill a fishing boat that cast […]

Henry Naruszewicz, 102 year old Veteran of George Patton’s 3rd Army – HERO IN OUR MIDST ~ VALLEY PATRIOT OF THE MONTH

Henry Naruszewicz, 102 year old Veteran of George Patton’s 3rd Army – HERO IN OUR MIDST ~ VALLEY PATRIOT OF THE MONTH

By: John Cuddy – June, 2018 A breakfast and lunch with this month’s hero is Henry Naruszewicz; his family also spelled their name as Narushof, and some family members used an Americanized spelling, Norris. I first had lunch on St Patrick’s Day with Henry and his son in law, U.S. Air Force Veteran Bill Flanagan […]