Manchester to honor vets with banners

Matthew Knox, Journal Inquirer, Manchester, Conn.
·2 min read

Mar. 3—MANCHESTER — Drivers and pedestrians traveling along Main Street later this year will notice a new way of honoring the town's veterans.

Beginning Memorial Day, the name, photograph, and service years of local veterans will be displayed on 4-foot-tall banners hung from utility poles along Main Street.

The idea is based off of similar displays in other towns around the country, including neighboring South Windsor, and is being organized locally by town resident Richard Zaremba.

Zaremba was traveling when he first saw the banners, and once he heard about South Windsor's version, organized by school student Mihika Joshi, he was inspired to do the same in Manchester.

"History needs to be taught and this is a very practical way," Zaremba said.

For this first year, about a dozen veterans will be honored. The banners also will list the branch of the military and the wars the veteran served in, and the name of the person or organization that sponsored the banner.

Zaremba said a lot of people would see the banners as they hang along Main Street between Memorial Day in May and Veterans Day in November. He hopes the impact on people will ripple, possibly leading to another town doing its own version.

It also is a way for him to honor his father and son, who are both veterans, Zaremba said.

The town is supportive of the plans and will be responsible for hanging the banners on the utility poles. Once the banners are taken down in November, they'll be given to the sponsors or the veterans and their families to keep.

Next year a new group of veterans will be honored, Zaremba said.

"This is something really special," Paul Scappaticci, commander of the local chapter of Disabled American Veterans and vice chairman of the town Veterans Advisory Committee, said.

Scappaticci and the committee were responsible for choosing the veterans who will appear on the banners. This year they chose living veterans who served in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.

He said this year is just the start, and the project could expand to include veterans of more recent wars.

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