VALLEY PATRIOT OF THE MONTH – HERO IN OUR MIDST: Peter Fantasia, 102-yr-old World War II US Army Medic

VALLEY PATRIOT OF THE MONTH – HERO IN OUR MIDST: Peter Fantasia, 102-yr-old World War II US Army Medic

By: John Cuddy – Dec. 2018 Somerville’s Peter Fantasia, now living in Reading, Massachusetts at the Artis Senior Living, vividly described to me how he got captured near Rodalbe, France. While serving with Lima Company, of the 3rd Battalion, of the 104th Regiment, of the 26th Infantry Division, the “Yankee Division” as an Army Medic, […]

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 […]

Methuen Native Roddrick Guerra Serves in Navy Hunting Mines in the Pacific

Methuen Native Roddrick Guerra Serves in Navy Hunting Mines in the Pacific

By: Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class David Wyscaver, Navy Office of Community Outreach SAN DIEGO – A 2015 Methuen High School graduate and Methuen, Massachusetts native is serving aboard an Avenger mine countermeasure ship designed to clear mines from vital waterways across the globe. Petty Officer 3rd Class Roddrick Guerra is a Navy mineman serving […]

Columbia Gas Brought Out the Best in Lawrence ~ PAYING ATTENTION with TOM DUGGAN

Columbia Gas Brought Out the Best in Lawrence ~ PAYING ATTENTION with TOM DUGGAN

THE DISASTER Sitting in my office listening to the police scanner it was obvious from the time the first call went out that the explosion on Chickering Road in Lawrence was not a routine call. Not long after that call went out I was jarred out of my seat by the urgency and bewilderment in […]

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. […]

Essex County Sheriff’s Dept. Pays Tribute to MIA/POW’S on Nat’l Recognition Day

Essex County Sheriff’s Dept. Pays Tribute to MIA/POW’S on Nat’l Recognition Day

  Sheriff Kevin F. Coppinger led a service on September 21, 2018 to commemorate National POW/MIA Recognition Day. Ceremony was held at the Essex County Sheriff’s Department (ECSD) Headquarters in Middleton next to the Vietnam War Veterans of Massachusetts Missing in Action Memorial which is the only monument in Massachusetts that recognizes the Vietnam War […]

John Gallant ~ VALLEY PATRIOT OF THE MONTH, HERO IN OUR MIDST

John Gallant ~ VALLEY PATRIOT OF THE MONTH, HERO IN OUR MIDST

The Battle of the Atlantic – Defeating the Nazis on the High Seas! By: John Cuddy – Aug. 2018 Haverhill’s John Gallant served in the Atlantic Theater of Operation during World War II on the U.S.S Hammann, DE-131. The story of John Gallant’s World War II naval service and that of his ship’s, are very […]

Veterans Legislation Goes to Governor Baker’s Desk to Be Signed

  By: State Rep. Linda Dean Campbell ~ August, 2018 I am proud that the Massachusetts Legislature has renewed its commitment to our Veterans by passing the BRAVE Act. As a Veteran and coming from a family of Veterans, I am proud and grateful that Massachusetts continues to honor those that have made, and continue […]

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 […]

Press Release from the Methuen Superior Officers Union in response to state rep Linda Dean Campbel

Press Release  from the Methuen Superior Officers Union  in response to state rep Linda Dean Campbel

     The Methuen Police Superior Officers Association applauds State Representative Linda Dean Campbell in calling for a state investigation into the city’s contract with our union.  We welcome the opportunity this presents.  We believe that an independent state investigation will be beneficial in providing complete transparency into the process of last years contract negotiations. […]

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 […]

Chief Addresses Recent Murders, Plummeting Crime Rate

Chief Addresses Recent Murders, Plummeting Crime Rate

Earlier this month, newly appointed Lawrence Police Chief Roy Vasque appeared on the Paying Attention Podcast with Tom Duggan. (You can download it on Spotify, iHeartRadio, iTunes etc.) We asked the chief how he is changing the way the police in Lawrence do their jobs. “I think that the department is energized right now, it’s up […]

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 […]

1 8 9 10 11 12 31