A beautiful morning on the Town Common, the weather for which felt akin to spring rather than mid-fall, greeted a considerable cohort of locals gathered for the annual Warren Veterans Day remembrance ceremony Monday, Nov. 11.

American Legion Post #104 Commander Dave McCarthy, who along with Judy Fardig and the Warren Association of Vietnam Veterans as they have for the last several decades once again prepared the event, served as master of ceremonies for the program.

For the second year in a row, the itinerary included specific recollections about two veterans of significance with Warren ties: the late Jean Morency, who served with the 194th Glider Infantry Regiment during World War II, and Civil War General Nathan Goff Jr.

Nearly all of the town's elected and appointed officials were in attendance for the remembrance. Town Council President John Hanley gave brief remarks on behalf of the body. State Senator Walter Felag Jr., Chairman, of the chamber's Committee on Special Legislation & Veterans' Affairs, and State Representative Jason Knight, speaking with State Representative June Speakman, also made short remarks during the event. Knight is a veteran of the US Navy submarine force.

Felag told the audience about the other ceremonies saluting veterans he has attended recently, including one late last month at the State House, which reminded him of a similar ceremony he was present for some 40 years ago honoring the memory of the nine US Marines from Rhode Island killed in Beirut barracks attack in 1983. One of those who lost their lives was Warren native Corporal David Massa.

Knight talked about the expectations put upon those in the military, including his own personal experience in the Navy, saying once you enter the armed forces "it's like, literally, stepping into another world." He continued, "People who join the service are literally transported to an entirely different life, an entirely difference existence. It's often foreign. It's often uncomfortable. It requires a lot of sacrifice. And they do it because they love their country."

As McCarthy explained, organizers of the event began the new tradition of specifying two servicemen or women with the hope it would add even greater gravitas to the ceremony by citing the contributions of veterans from the town of the relatively recent past, "someone we knew or knew, know their families, a more modern veteran," as well as those with deeper historic ties.

McCarthy called the exercise, "telling the personal stories of our unsung heroes...who went off to serve their country without complaint. Most returned, some unfortunately did not. Those who returned took their rightful place back in society and did it quietly. They seldom spoke of their service so last year we started speaking for our unsung heroes."

McCarthy, a veteran of the US Marine Corps, provided the audience with the biography of Goff, a native of Warren who began his duty for the Union Army as a captain and later as a brigadier general by war's end. Goff fought in several significant battles throughout the conflict. He most notably commanded the 37th United States Colored Infantry Regiment to eventual victories in battles for Fort Fisher, which guarded the last southern port remaining in Confederate hands near the end of the war in Wilmington N.C.

Speaking on behalf of Morency was his daughter, Denise Kinney, a former editor of The Times-Gazette and long-time Administrative Assistant in the Warren Town Manager's office.

"My dad seldom spoke of the war," said Kinney, who attended the ceremony with her son, Matthew Kinney, and her sister, Diane Sampson. Another Morency sibling, Janet McKell, resides in Florida and was unable to attend, "He came home, closed the book on the experience and started the next chapter, picking up the thread of a life he left behind."

Kinney noted Morency became a short-order cook at the Mt. Hope Diner in Bristol, then embarked on a career as a entrepreneur by opening "Jean's Lunch" and then, in her recounting, becoming a "pioneer in the food truck industry."

Later, Morency was voted in as a representative for Warren in the Rhode Island General Assembly. He was also an avid card player and lover of Christmas decorations and the Boston Red Sox. He enjoyed the French-Canadian cuisine of his native Quebec, Canada, and relished spending time with his family and friends.

"My dad was a good soldier, a proud veteran. He was warm, compassionate, humble, generous, kind," Kinney continued, mentioning Morency died "too young" at the age of 64 in 1979. "It's been 45 years since his passing, but we think of him often and fondly and miss him more than words can say. Jean was a brave soldier, a wonderful man well worth the remembrance."

A few final notes on the day, Shirley Guertin, of Kickemuit Grange, led the audience in the opening and closing prayers. Amanda Beaulieu-Smith, of the First United Methodist Church of Warren and Bristol and who has been participating in either the town's Veterans and Memorial Day ceremonies since the age of nine, sang both the National Anthem and God Bless America. And lastly, members of the Connor Family, whose service in the armed forces stretches eight generations, along with Kinney and Knight laid wreaths in front of the town War Memorial plaques on the Common grounds near the State Street entrance.