185 flags flap for lost veterans: Cape Ann commemorating Memorial Day

Joann Mackenzie, Gloucester Daily Times, Mass.
·5 min read

May 26—He was born on the fifth of July, but it might as well have been the Fourth.

Michael Linquata, Gloucester's greatest advocate for the city's veterans of wars, would be proud to see the 185 flags flapping red, white and blue, as they stand in formation at Kent Circle across from Stacy Boulevard. On his Facebook page, Cape Ann Veterans Director Adam Curcuru says each of the flags is "in honor of each individual ... Killed in Action or Died While in Service to our country from World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan from our community of Gloucester."

Linquata, who died this past March at age 96, was a veteran. When he was a boy of 19, freshly graduated from Gloucester High School, he was told that he had just 15 days to live. It was early December 1944 in Belgium, and he had just arrived to serve in what would come to be known as the decisive but horrendously bloody "Battle of the Bulge."

Linquata not only survived the Battle of the Bulge, but went on to survive time spent as a prisoner of war. Like so many others, he rarely spoke of the war, his son Lenny Linquata told the Times at the time of his father's passing. But he never forgot those who remained buried in the fields where they fought in Belgium and France.

When Linquata came back from the battlefield, he was determined to create a World War II memorial, and so began what in time became the Gloucester World War II Memorial on Kent Circle. Some 5,665 men and women from Gloucester fought in the war, and money for the memorial were raised by a devoted committee of veterans. With the help of countless volunteers, the records were found of all the Gloucester veterans of World War II, and the memorial was completed and dedicated on July 4, 2006.

Linquata will not be present this Memorial Day 2022 in Gloucester, but his spirit certainly will, as folks stop at the field of flags to remember the men who never came back from the wars.

"Each flag," notes Curcuru, contains a Gold Star with the name of the individual and the war they served in, those who "made the ultimate sacrifice." The intent of the project, says Curcuru, is "to honor and remember their memories, and help our community understand the loss."

Michael Linquata, who went on with his father to found the Gloucester House restaurant, was the recipient four Bronze Stars, three Battle Stars, a Combat Medic's badge, a Presidential Unit Citation, and in 2014, the French Legion Medal of Honor.

He was plainspoken, but he was a man of his word. and those 185 flags are there to speak for him.

Here is how Cape Ann is commemorating Memorial Day, Monday, May 30:

GLOUCESTER: Cape Ann Veteran Services will host Memorial Day services from 9 to 11 a.m. at the Gloucester High School Auditorium, 32 Leslie O. Johnson Road. At the Kent Circle World War 11 Memorial, 185 American flags stand in formation in honor of each Gloucester individual who was killed in action or died while in service in World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. For their families and survivors, every day is Memorial Day, says Cape Ann Veterans Services Director Adam Curcuru, every day is Memorial Day. For more information, email Curcuru at acurcuru@gloucester-ma.gov.

ROCKPORT: Annual Rockport Memorial Day Parade begins at 10 a.m. from Legion Hall, proceeds down Beach Street to Main Street to School Street to Pleasant Street and into Beech Grove Cemetery, for services at the Legion Lot where Earl Kishida will lead the ceremony. Retired Capt. Samuel Coulbourn of the US Navy will be the guest speaker and the grand marshal will be retired Capt. Phillip Zeman of the US Marine Corps. Fifth-graders Adrian Estrada and Maggie Reed will recite the poems "In Flanders Field" and "Answer to Flanders Field." Kindergartners and first-graders will place flowers and flags around the grave of the Unknown Soldier. Second- and third-graders will sing "My Country Tis of Thee" and "America the Beautiful" and the Rockport Elementary School Band, under the direction of Kaitlin Shaw-Reese, and the High School/Middle School Band, under the direction of Anthony Prestigiovanni ,will each play a selection at the cemetery and at Lumber Wharf, followed by taps and a pause for laying of a wreath in Harvey Park. From Dock Square to Pier Avenue to Lumber Wharf, those lost at sea will be remembered. Then at Spiran Hall, refreshments will be served. Anyone who has recently lost a family member in service, should contact Legion Post 98 in Rockport by texting Darlene Trumbour at 978-810-5814 to be remembered. Veterans, Blue Star mothers or family members are encouraged to join.

MANCHESTER: Amaral Bailey American Legion Post 113, 14 Church St, will host a waterside service at 9 a.m., after which a parade will form. The parade will process to Pleasant Grove Cemetery, Rosedale Cemetery, Hinkley Memorial, Union Cemetery, 1661 Cemetery and return to Amaral Bailey Post 113. The public is welcome to join in honoring and remembering town veterans.

ESSEX: The town of Essex commemorates Memorial Day 2022 starting at 11 a.m. at Shepard Memorial Park. The Manchester Essex Band will play and will be followed by a "Salute to the Dead" by the Essex Veterans Firing Quad. Chaplain Michael Flynn, lieutenant in the U.S. Navy, will join local veterans in making remarks, and Warrant Officer David Oliver will preside over the day's events.

IPSWICH: Veterans Posts' parade will organize at 9:30 a.m. on North Main Street in Ipswich, and kick-off at approximately 10 a.m. The parade will march to the Civil War Monument for services, and from there proceed to the Choate Bridge for services. The parade will then continue to the Veterans' Memorial and then to the South Green Cemetery for services at each. Concluding services will be held at the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post Quarters at 110 County Road.