Secretary Galvin, Park Service announce Battle of Bunker Hill 250th anniversary events
Advertisement
Although the Regulars took the hill that day and burned most of Charlestown down, the Patriots inflicted over 1,000 casualties on the British, including more than 200 killed. The British suffered more than twice the American losses, proving to both King and colonies that the fight for independence would be long and bloody, but winnable for the Americans.
'It unified the colonies in the belief that they had to take a stand to be independent, culminating just a year later on July 4, 1776, with the Declaration of Independence,' Galvin said. 'So in a very real way, the blood that was spilled here set the scene for the founding of the United States.'
The new additions to the 'Upon Such Ground' exhibit, which opened in March at the Commonwealth Museum, 220 Morrissey Blvd., in Dorchester, will include original documents relating to the Battle of Bunker Hill, such as pay records for veterans, an 1823 petition to erect the monument that now towers above the site, and a list of survivors who returned for the battle's 50th anniversary in 1825.
Advertisement
The exhibit's title comes from a June 18, 1775,
In addition to the extended exhibit, Galvin announced the return of the Commonwealth Museum's Fourth of July display of Massachusetts' original copy of the Declaration of Independence, signed by John Hancock.
That same day, the crypt at the United First Parish Church in Quincy — final resting place of Presidents John and John Quincy Adams and their wives — will also be open to the public. Offered in partnership with the National Park Service and funded by the Massachusetts Historical Commission, the special opening marks the 199th anniversary of John Adams's death, exactly 50 years after he signed the Declaration of Independence.
Simeon Monteleone, superintendent of the National Parks of Boston, said the Park Service is prepared for increased visitation to the Bunker Hill Monument leading up to and during
'This monument continues to serve as a vital commemorative space, rallying point, and inspiration to veterans, community members, and visitors alike,' Monteleone said.
Advertisement
While the Park Service has
Asked why no full battle reenactment would take place in Charlestown itself, officials cited logistical and environmental constraints.
'This is an urban environment,' Galvin said. 'The hills have been filled with houses now. I don't think it could be a faithful reenactment.' He added that reenactments planned elsewhere — including in Gloucester — could better replicate the topography and scale of the original battle.
The 250th anniversary
As Massachusetts marks the Revolution it helped ignite, Galvin suggested the anniversary carries added weight in light of recent federal actions that have rattled institutions and residents across the state.
'I don't think it's political to say that democracy is under threat,' he said. 'If these commemorations provide some additional inspiration now and in the future, it's the importance of recognizing that it's our turn — as it was theirs back then — to protect and preserve democracy.'
Nathan Metcalf can be reached at
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Atlantic
30 minutes ago
- Atlantic
When Pete Hegseth's Pentagon Tenure Started Going Sideways
Things were going fine for Pete Hegseth, right up until a chance encounter with the world's richest man. His pursuit of Donald Trump's agenda at the Pentagon had made him a star among the president's advisers. The former Fox News host had moved swiftly to roll back diversity initiatives in the military and to expand U.S. troops' role in halting immigration at the southern border. His willingness to challenge Republican orthodoxy on foreign policy and punch back at critics was seen as an asset as Trump began his second term. But then, in mid-March, Hegseth bumped into Elon Musk in a White House hallway, and extended an ill-fated invitation to the tech titan for an exclusive military briefing. 'Up until then, DOD had been the golden child,' one person familiar with Hegseth's office told us. When Trump learned about the proposed briefing the night before it was scheduled to take place, he was displeased. Although Hegseth denied a New York Time s report that the March 21 meeting would focus on plans for potential war with Beijing, Trump told others that any presentation on China would be inappropriate for Musk, who has extensive business interests there, according to people familiar with the president's reaction. The very idea that top officers would brief the businessman in the Tank—the secure Pentagon conference room where the military brass assembles for visits by the commander in chief—added to an unwelcome perception that Musk wielded outsize government power. In a call hours after the Times story appeared, Trump made clear to Hegseth that the briefing was 'a bad look' for the administration, according to individuals with knowledge of the call. When Hegseth visited the White House the next day to debut the Air Force's newest fighter jet, Trump again conveyed his displeasure. 'This is crazy and stupid,' Trump said of the briefing, one of these people told us. 'Why would we even do this?' Jonathan Lemire: Why Trump is standing by Hegseth, for now Trump reserved most of his ire for Musk and did not express anger toward Hegseth personally, White House officials told us. Yet the Musk episode, and Trump's response to Hegseth, details of which have not been previously reported, represented a turning point for the new Pentagon chief, according to people familiar with his tenure who spoke with us on the condition of anonymity. Since then, a series of embarrassing revelations, including Hegseth's disclosure of military attack plans on the messaging app Signal, have fueled turmoil and suspicion at the Pentagon's highest levels. They have also intensified public scrutiny of Hegseth's judgment and deepened questions about his ability to deliver on the president's military priorities, including pushing back against China and demonstrating American strength, which the president believes was eroded by his predecessor. 'Things were heading in the right direction,' the person familiar with Hegseth's office added. 'But then the leaks and Signalgate just really fucked up Pete.' Hegseth oversees a workforce of more than 3 million, and a budget of close to $1 trillion, without a chief of staff. His shrunken circle of close aides lacks extensive Pentagon experience. Key military commanders are preparing to retire without replacements in sight. Sidelined aides have aired details of unseemly feuds at the department's senior levels, and a series of unflattering media reports have fueled what numerous officials describe as Hegseth's fixation on stopping leaks. White House officials say that Trump continues to support Hegseth—the defense chief's job is '100 percent safe,' one told us. This official also noted that in addition to having Trump's affection, Hegseth is personally liked by both Vice President J. D. Vance and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly told us that the entire administration remains 'fully behind Secretary Hegseth's mission to prioritize our warfighters, eliminate terrorists, and restore common sense at the DOD.' But scores of congressional Democrats have called on Hegseth to resign. One Republican, Representative Don Bacon of Nebraska, has suggested that he be fired. Musk's Pentagon visit originated from a conversation in Musk's sparsely furnished office that followed their impromptu meeting in a White House hallway, when Hegseth suggested that Musk come over to the Pentagon to talk with senior military leaders. The defense chief later authorized the meeting to be held in the Tank. Several people told us that Hegseth's invitation came at a moment when the Defense Department, like other agencies across the government, was facing the prospect of cuts by Musk's Department of Government Efficiency. While Hegseth has touted DOGE's steps to reduce the number of federal contractors and other personnel, DOD was not driving the process. The invitation represented a chance for Pentagon leaders to help steer DOGE's direction in cutting one of the world's largest bureaucracies. (A representative for Musk did not respond to multiple requests for comment.) Tom Nichols: Pete Hegseth's patriotic duty is to resign Just three days after Musk's Pentagon visit, Hegseth's judgment again came into question when Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor in chief of The Atlantic, revealed that he had been added to a high-level Signal chat about plans to bomb Houthi militants in Yemen. Although then–National Security Adviser Michael Waltz had inadvertently invited Goldberg to the thread, it was Hegseth who escalated the exchange by posting details of an imminent attack on Houthi targets, including the precise times when U.S. jets would be flying over their targets in Yemen. Current and former officials have said that such advance attack information would typically be highly classified because of the danger its disclosure could pose to pilots. A cascade of other revelations followed, including stories detailing the unusual role that Hegseth's wife, Jennifer, has played in his work at the Pentagon, where she has attended meetings with foreign officials and issued orders related to her husband's media appearances. News reports also revealed that Hegseth gave his younger brother a senior Pentagon role and authorized the installation of a makeup studio at a cost of thousands of dollars. Current and former officials told us that Hegseth has since threatened to polygraph numerous senior officials, including the acting chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He has also overturned decades of tradition in the military's relationship with the press, ousting media outlets from their long-standing Pentagon workspaces in favor of Trump-friendly voices and ending reporters' access to most of the building. When The Atlantic interviewed Trump in the Oval Office in late April, the president said he'd had 'a talk' with Hegseth about the various embarrassing reports, predicting, 'I think he's gonna get it together.' Yet the Musk and Signal episodes reveal what some individuals familiar with Hegseth's tenure described to us as his tendency to use his position heading the world's most advanced military as a 'flex.' He attempts to impress others with his access to sensitive information and his power to direct American forces, even if it means a little indiscretion along the way, they said. 'He's got this $180,000 Ferrari. That's the Pentagon for him,' another person familiar with Hegseth's office told us. 'And he likes to show it off.' Hegseth created further controversy after he elevated Ricky Buria, a Marine who'd been serving as a military aide when Hegseth took office, to a senior role and sought to name him as chief of staff. Buria often made demands of more senior officers, and his sudden promotion to a senior political position rubbed many in the rank-conscious military the wrong way. Trump personally blocked Buria from the chief-of-staff job because of his ties to Lloyd Austin, Joe Biden's Pentagon chief, White House officials told us. People familiar with Pentagon staffing told us that the White House had explored hiring at least four replacements for Joe Kasper, who had abruptly left the chief-of-staff job in April to take a new role in the department, but that none had worked out. The chief Pentagon spokesperson, Sean Parnell, said in a statement that personnel changes are a 'natural and necessary feature of any highly effective organization.' 'Americans outside the beltway don't care about 'palace intrigue' or sensationalized mainstream media gossip,' Parnell said. 'They care about action.' In response to suggestions from the White House, the Pentagon has in recent weeks begun to slowly expand its media engagement beyond MAGA-friendly outlets, taking reporters from several mainstream print-news organizations on Hegseth's travels to Latin America and Asia. Kingsley Wilson, Hegseth's Pentagon press secretary, told us that Hegseth's travels have involved bringing along journalists from 'a wide range of outlets.' Hegseth, however, has stuck to a rote playbook in responding to unfavorable news: attempt to discredit the media, then pivot to his efforts to rebuild the military and restore the 'warrior ethos' he says was lost under Democratic leaders. 'This is what the media does,' he told reporters during a family Easter event at the White House, children in party attire looking on from behind. He gestured at the journalists assembled before him, calling them 'hoaxsters.' 'They try to slash and burn people and ruin their reputations. It's not going to work with me.' Jason Dempsey: Hegseth has all the wrong enemies Trump has stood by his Pentagon chief, suggesting that he admires the combative approach Hegseth takes in attacking administration detractors. He is a 'tough cookie' who 'went through a lot,' the president said late last month. Trump also spent significant political capital pushing through Hegseth's nomination—Vance had to cast the tiebreaking vote after the Senate deadlocked on confirmation at 50–50—and is reluctant to abandon him now, especially because it might look like giving the media a scalp. That support will be tested next week, when Hegseth begins a series of hearings on Capitol Hill convened to address the administration's budget requests. Hegseth is sure to face difficult questions from Democrats, including on his handling of sensitive information, the upheaval in the Pentagon's upper ranks, and his firing of senior military officials. Those officers include the second-ever Black chairman of the Joint Chiefs and the first female Navy chief, both of whom Hegseth previously suggested were promoted because of their race and gender, respectively. Top Republicans, meanwhile, are unhappy with an administration spending proposal that they say doesn't include enough money for defense. Many at the Pentagon question how long the president's backing for their boss will last. During his first term, Trump cycled through four defense secretaries and four national security advisers. He also voiced support for Waltz until the former national security adviser was pushed aside last month and asked to take a less powerful role, at the United Nations. Although the president appears to appreciate Hegseth's pugnacious public style, he may require more from his defense secretary over time, as the administration faces pressure to deliver on a set of complex and interlocking goals, including fixing a byzantine military-procurement system, reviving a diminished defense industry, and strengthening America's response to China's military rise. Fighters endear themselves to Trump, one person told us, 'but you can't have a one-dimensional game. At a certain point, it's going to get old.'
Yahoo
36 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump White House: Jill Biden should speak up about Joe Biden's mental health
President Donald Trump's top spokesperson called for former first lady Jill Biden to speak up about former President Joe Biden's alleged mental decline, saying she conspired to keep her husband's health from the American people. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt's comment on May 29 - that Jill Biden should address 'when she saw and what she knew" - came in response to a reporter's question on whether the former first lady should testify to Congress about the former Democratic president's health. 'I think anybody looking again at the videos and photo evidence of Joe Biden with your own eyes and a little bit of common sense can see that this was a clear coverup,' Leavitt responded. 'And Jill Biden was certainly complicit in that coverup.' More: Robert Hur defends characterization of Biden's memory in testimony to Congress: Recap Aides close to President Biden and his wife did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the growing calls from the Trump White House. The 82-year old Democrat announced last week that he'd been diagnosed with an 'aggressive' Stage 4 prostate cancer. Questions around the president's mental capacity reached a fevered pitch when former Special Counsel Robert Hur released a report in early 2024 about Biden mishandling classified documents after his time as vice president concluded in the Obama White House. Hur concluded that a potential criminal jury would find Biden to be a 'sympathetic, well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory." Biden's performance during a June presidential debate with then-Republican nominee Donald Trump also raised questions about the Democrats' well-being, and he ultimately dropped out of the White House race in deference to then-Vice President Kamala Harris. The Trump White House's focus on Biden echoes criticism from House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer. The Kentucky Republican has asked several high-ranking Biden administration officials and his physician, Dr. Kevin O'Connor, to appear for transcribed interviews to 'uncover the truth' about Biden's "mental decline and potential unauthorized use of an autopen for sweeping pardons and other executive actions. Letters seeking testimony have been sent to staffers including former senior adviser to the first lady Anthony Bernal, former Domestic Policy Council Director Neera Tanden and former deputy chief of staff Annie Tomasini. Comer said during the last Congress that the Biden White House obstructed his committee's investigation into the president's mental capacity and refused to make aides available for depositions or interviews. 'The American people demand transparency and accountability now,' Comer said in a statement. According to a new book, Original Sin, written by CNN's Jake Tapper and Axios's Alex Thompson, one person familiar with workings of the administration said Biden was only one of five people running the country. During her May 29 briefing at the White House, Leavitt claimed there was documentary evidence showing Jill Biden was shielding her husband from public scrutiny. 'She's still lying to the American people. She still thinks the American public are so stupid that they're going to believe her lies," said Leavitt. "And frankly, it's insulting, and she needs to answer for it.' (This story was updated because an earlier version included an inaccuracy) This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Leavitt blasts Jill Biden over husband's health 'coverup'
Yahoo
36 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Joe Biden 'optimistic' about treatment plan for Stage 4 prostate cancer
Former President Joe Biden said on May 30 that he is 'optimistic' about the treatment plan for his Stage 4 prostate cancer, which involves taking a daily pill for six weeks. "We're underway and all the folks are very optimistic," Biden said. 'The expectation is we're going to be able to beat this. It's not in any (other) organ. My bones are strong, it hasn't penetrated. So I'm feeling good.' More: Biden urges Americans to support veterans on anniversary of son Beau's death Doctors found a 'small nodule' on Biden's prostate during a routine exam; the 82-year-old was diagnosed Friday, May 16, according to a statement released by his office. Speaking to reporters at a Delaware Memorial Day event for the first time since announcing his diagnosis, Biden said that he is being treated by a top doctor in the field. Biden's physician has lived through the same aggressive form of cancer as the former president. 'We're all optimistic about the diagnosis. Matter of fact, one of the leading surgeons in the world is working with me and he was diagnosed with the same exact thing 32 years ago,' Biden said. 'He's alive and well, doing very well.' Biden spoke with reporters as he left the annual Memorial Day event at Veterans Memorial Park in New Castle, Delaware, which coincided with the 10th anniversary of his son Beau Biden's death. It was also the first time Biden spoke to reporters since a book was published raising questions about his physical and mental fitness while he was president. A White House spokeswoman alleged Thursday that former first lady Jill Biden conspired to keep her husband's health from the American people. When asked to respond, Biden, who had just given a 10-minute speech and walked over to the throng of reporters, joked, "You can see that I'm mentally incompetent and I can't walk." This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Joe Biden 'optimistic' about cancer treatment, doctor, meds
