CLARKSBURG, Mass. — As the county remembers its fallen over the past 250 years, Kurtis Durocher reminded the gathering at Town Hall that Memorial Day isn't about glorifying war. 

 

"It is about acknowledging the cost of peace," said town's veterans agent. "The sacrifice of life for liberty is profound, and it depends or it demands more from us than parades or ceremonies. It asks for our vigilance in protecting the freedoms they died for. It asks us to care for their fellow veterans, to support their families and to build a country worthy of their sacrifice."

 

Durocher is a retired, decorated Army master sergeant with multiple deployments including Iraq and Afghanistan. He was named as the regional veterans service officer earlier this year in North Adams and serves nearly a dozen North County towns. 

 

He said the stories of those who were lost "are etched into the very soil of our community here in Northern Berkshire ... They are not statistics. They are our family."

 

"Let us also remember the Gold Star families, those who bear the weight of personal loss every single day we see you, we honor you, and we thank you for the unimaginable price your loved ones paid," Durocher continued. "So let us lower our heads, not in despair, but in gratitude. Let us speak their names, tell their stories and preserve their memory, because a hero remembered never truly dies."

 

The ceremony at Clarksburg included selections from the Drury High School band, an honor guard made up of the Clarksburg Volunteer Fire Departments and remarks from master of ceremonies Joseph Bushika of Peter A. Cook Post 9144 Veterans of Foreign Wars, and Town Administrator Ronald Boucher. Laurie Boudreau sang "God Bless America" and "American the Beautiful."

 

Boucher called for veterans in the crowd to raise the hands and thanked them for their service.