EPVMER2021 ceremony details with 2 videos

This is an expanded program to include speech text and 2 videos of the live Nov. 6th double re-dedication ceremony. 

Thank you GH for the videos!

City of East Providence

RHODE  ISLAND

RE-DEDICATION OF

EAST PROVIDENCE

VETERANS’ MEMORIAL EXPRESSWAY

and

15 MEMORIAL BRIDGES AND EXIT

held SATURDAY, NOVEMBER SIXTH

TWO THOUSAND TWENTY ONE

ceremony, antique car parade,

“meet and salute” our veterans and members of the military

 EP Military Service Honor Roll 

 see tabbed page posted on this website

sites.google.com/view/epvmer2021

 a re-enactment of the Nov. 11, 1961 dedication ceremony

 program was updated 2-13-23

 page 2     

     DEDICATORY CEREMONIES

    held at

       PIERCE MEMORIAL STADIUM

              201 Mercer St. and Fifth St., East Providence, RI 02914

           Masters of Ceremony – Susan Cady, Gordon Hubbard, Gordon Reid

Opening flag procession to the podium --- Riverside Scouts- Cadettes, Jr. Girls, and Cub Scouts, scout leader, LTC Nancy, and Trisha

Invocation --- Rev.  Joseph A. Escobar 

Let us pray.
Heavenly God, you are the source of all that we have and desire. 

We thank you for the freedom as we gather this day and remember our veterans  

who have served our country so well  

in times of war and in times of peace.  

As a nation and as individuals, we are grateful of their service.   

We ask for your healing blessing on our wounded veterans  

who suffer in mind and in body.  

May they know comfort through our care and concern for them and 

through our appreciation of their sacrifices and service.  

We commend to your mercy those who made the ultimate sacrifice 

and died for our freedom.   

May they rest secure in your eternal loving embrace.  

Bless the families of our veterans 

for they have made many sacrifices as well.   

Pour out your spirit of peace and reconciliation 

into the hearts of all leaders that 

they may truly work for peace and the well being of all peoples.  

We ask this of you, oh God, for you are the source of every blessing 

and you live and reign forever and ever.

Amen 

Pledge of allegiance ---  all

Greetings ---  Mayor Robert DaSilva, Director of Veterans Affairs Kasim Yarn

“God Bless America” --- Ms. Dale Magnuson

Veterans’ Day Address ---  “History of the EPVME”

• First memorial: Lt. Donald E. Carlton for WWI  1931

• 14 Bridge Memorials along the EPVME 1961

• Most recent:  the Andrew Brothers Exit  2017

 For more historical details, please read the articles in the E P Reporter. 

“America” ---  all sing

Introductions --- of dedication ceremony participants and Director of RI Veterans Affairs, Kasim Yarn

Introduction of Director Yarn at the EPVMER 2021 ceremony 

It is an honor for us today to have Director Kasim Yarn present to assist with the mission that our veterans should not be forgotten. He will assist with the re-dedication of the replacement of the missing and forgotten EPVME bridge memorial signs. 

In February 2016, our former Governor Gina Raimondo appointed Navy Lieutenant Commander Kassim Yarn as the first director of the RI Office of Veterans Affairs. This office is located in Warwick and Exeter, RI.  The office of RI Veteran Affairs runs the state Veterans' Home in Bristol and the Veterans' Cemetery in Exeter. 

The goal of the Office of Veterans Affairs is to assist veterans who are returning home after serving in war and other United States’ supported missions. Resources are given to both the veteran, their family, and care givers to help make the transition back into productive civilian life.  One on one personal assistance and a crisis hotline exist to provide life resources to heal both physical and mental wounds. The goal is to not let any veteran fall through the cracks and be forgotten. The men and women who served our country should know they are not alone. Help is available.  

A little about Director Yarn’s background as posted on the “RI serves” webpage. 

Born in Jackson. Mississippi, he served in the Navy for 25 years, earning the rank of Navy Lieutenant Commander.  While stationed at the Naval Station in Newport in 1995, the Navy selected Kasim to attend college and he became an officer. … Afterward, he completed four deployments in Europe and the Middle East, in Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Operation Enduring Freedom.   In 2004, Kasim became an instructor at the Surface Warfare Officers School at the Naval Station in Newport. While in Newport, he earned a Master’s Degree in National Strategic Studies at the U.S. Naval War College in 2006. Beginning in July 2007, Kasim served on several deployments with the Navy’s Sixth and Fifth Fleets in increasing roles of responsibility and returned home to Rhode Island in July 2013 to become a faculty member at the Naval War College.  Since Feb. 2016, he has served RI veterans as the Director of the Veteran Affairs.

In an early news release, Director Yarn said “My top priority is to honor the service and sacrifices our veterans and military families have made by giving voice to their ideas and concerns and working together to ensure that every veteran has an opportunity to make it in Rhode Island.” 

Director Yarn.  We are grateful and blessed to have you as our director. We wish you the best with this valuable service you provide our veterans. Thank you for joining us in this historical remembrance of our past veterans and to honor our present veterans and military members.  

--- DEDICATORY ADDRESS --- 

Re-dedication of the 15 EPVME bridge memorial plaques and exit ramp   

Presented by Gordon Reid

The following is a modified 2021 version of the 1944 inscription^ on the scrolls given to
the E. Prov.  families, during WWII, whose loved ones were killed in action.

“The City of East Providence, in the state of RI,

having noted with deep regret and profound sorrow

the supreme sacrifices made in the preservation of Freedom

and the American Way of Life in the present world-wide conflict,

the City of EP presents this scroll to the families

of the 33 men for whom we now dedicate

their bridge and exit memorials located on the EP Veterans Memorial Expressway.

We honor them as they have given their all in the service of their country

May their willing contributions be an inspiration to us all

in maintaining unblemished the high ideals for which they

and all other veteran comrades have dedicated their lives,

and may the Supreme Architect of the Universe

eternally bless their noble hallowed souls, and shepherd like,

protect them through the countless ages."

   ^modified from Gordon Reid’s WWII scroll

    signed by the E. Prov.  Town Clerk, in 1944, Chester E. Butts, 1944

*****        Edited copyrighted @ GH video of the LIVE Nov. 6th, 2021 ceremony 

Video 1:   Memorial Bridge Plaques Re-dedication   9+ minutes

Best viewed as a small (about 3" wide x 2.5" high) window.  Sorry viewing as a full screen is out of focus   *****

Music --- Please stand and greet the veterans and military members sitting near you

Re-dedication of the EPVME

to all EP veterans of all wars and military events with the presentation of the EP Military Service Honor Roll to the city of E. Prov.  

Presented by Gordon Hubbard 

Rev. Frank Crook, pastor of Newman Congregational Church, on May 15, 1944, gave this speech during the dedication of the Honor Roll billboard unveiling.   He declared that:

“D-Day will be God’s day of deliverance. It will be a divine invasion, because God’s men are free men. The Allies recognize and declare the right of free men. Man must struggle and sacrifice for the right to live in God-given freedom. Rev. Crook warned that too many Americans are living as if there were no war. In the final judgment of free men, some who are now fighting for your homes, your religion, your individual personality, will flinch when they learn how you used your time and money while they risked their lives."

3376 names were listed.  Resolutions of sympathy to the families of those who have paid “the supreme sacrifice” were presented to the Gold Star mothers and wives on Mothers' Day, 1944.

Inscribed around the base of that honor roll:

“That those who serve may know they are remembered in the hearts of the people of East Providence

May God watch over them. By their services to our country,

they shall forever be remembered by the people of East Providence.

Glorified be their name on this roll of honor.”

In the name of God and the freedom of mankind, we dedicate this “EP Military Service Honor Roll".

Salute to the Dead ---  Canon Salute (Caution: loud noise) courtesy Ancient Little Neck Cemetery 

“Star Spangled Banner” --- all sing

Benediction by S. Cady                    

Thank you all for coming this beautiful day 

to celebrate the lives and to remember

all of our members of the Armed Forces -

those killed in action, now dead, still alive, and actively serving.

Watch over our military members as they return home.

Provide strength and patience to our families and caregivers for our aging and wounded veterans. 

Keep safe all who are fighting the Covid pandemic and administering vaccines.

Safe travels home to all who gathered here today to celebrate the efforts of our heros.

Bless Operation Stand Down RI, our donations, and the veterans they serve.

Let the efforts of our veterans and military members to make the world a better place not be forgotten.

Go now and help make peace in the world.

Amen

Remember to turn your clocks back tonight!

Thank you for spending that extra hour here!

Special music- "You'll never walk alone"---  Ms. D. Magnuson, soloist

Taps --- Mr. Douglas Wood, trumpet

2:15 ~ 2:45 p. m.    Antique car parade (9 cars) to honor all travelers of Route 195

Edited copyrighted @GH video of the LIVE Nov. 6th,  2021 ceremony:    

Video 2:  Closing Prayer, music by Ms. Dale, "You'll Never Walk Alone", 

Taps (by Mr.  D. Wood),  Antique Car Parade  <7 minutes

Best viewed as a small (about 3" wide x 2.5" high) window. Sorry viewing as a full screen is out of focus.

end of dedication ceremony program

Posted on Jan. 14, 2024