WARE, Mass. (WWLP) – As a community, we honor our neighbors who served and died so that we can be free. But some communities no longer exist in Massachusetts.
The brave Americans who served them aren’t forgotten; they’re still remembered each Memorial Day weekend at Quabbin Park Cemetery.
In 1938, many towns in the Swift River Valley were flooded to create the Quabbin Reservoir, which provides clean drinking water to Greater Boston.
Nancy Farley Schoettler will never forget the sacrifices she and her neighbors made when they were forced from their homes. She traveled from Seattle to honor those who served from her community. “I said if I was going to make one last trip across the country, I wanted to be here on this Sunday, Memorial Day weekend.”
When the Swift River Valley was flooded, 6,601 graves had to be moved to Quabbin Park Cemetery, and many of those people had served our country.
Gene Theroux, President of the Friends of Quabbin Board of Directors, told 22News, “The Swift River Valley had a lot of patriots that gave up their lives, and we cannot forget to remember those that lost their lives, and I can assure you I will not be having a barbecue today or tomorrow.”
Through song, ceremony, and speeches, the people formerly of those lost villages, and of the Belchertown region, promised to never forget to honor and thank those who made the ultimate sacrifice for them.