Copyright The Boston Globe
State officials in Boston presented a pair of awards named in honor of Massachusetts war heroes to mark Veterans Day at the State House on Tuesday. The ceremony inside the Hall of Flags at the State House brought together state officials, veterans, service members, and Gold Star families. The event came as towns and cities across the state marked the holiday with parades and remembrances. “Today we honor their service and reaffirm our administration’s promise to ensure every veteran receives the services and support they deserve, whether through housing, employment, or health care,” Governor Maura Healey said in a statement. The Captain Thomas Hudner Jr. Valor Award was presented to Andrew Biggio, a Marine Corps veteran and Boston police officer who authored the book “The Rifle: Combat Stories from America’s Last WWII Veterans.” Advertisement Hudner received the Medal of Honor in 1951 for his efforts to save a fellow pilot whose plane was shot down during the Korean War. Hudner ditched his own plane when he spotted the other pilot, Navy Ensign Jesse L. Brown, the Navy’s first Black pilot, and attempted to free his friend from the smoking wreckage, but he could not. A longtime Concord resident, Hudner died in 2017 at the age of 93. The Captain Thomas Kelley Community Engagement Award was presented to Soldier On, a Pittsfield-based nonprofit organization dedicated to ending veteran homelessness. The organization was honored for its “decades of leadership providing housing, support, and stability for veterans across Massachusetts,” Healey’s office said. Kelley received the Medal of Honor for his courageous actions in Vietnam on June 15, 1969, on the Ong Muong Canal in Kien Hoa Province of the Republic of Vietnam. Advertisement Kelley, then 30 years old, was in charge of a column of eight river assault craft that were extracting a company of Army infantry troops when they came under enemy fire. Kelley suffered a severe head wound but he still managed to lead the counterattack and guided the column to safety, according to his Medal of Honor citation. The US Navy has named two destroyer ships after Hudner and Kelley. “Veterans Day reminds us that service never ends,” state Veterans Services Secretary Jon Santiago said in the statement. “It lives on in the way we care for one another, build community, and honor the people who wore the uniform. I feel humbled to serve those who served us and proud of the progress we continue to make together.” Also on Tuesday, service members and veterans gathered with community members in Quincy for the city’s annual Veterans Day Parade. In Marlborough, veterans and the community gathered at the tomb of Robert Eames at Wilson Cemetery to mark the holiday. Eames, a Marlborough resident, fought in the Revolutionary and French and Indian wars, according to the MetroWest Daily News. Nick Stoico can be reached at nick.stoico@globe.com.
