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Westfield hosts annual Memorial Day Parade

WESTFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – Westfield honored service members who passed away Monday morning with its annual Memorial Day Parade. While many people view this observance as a three-day weekend, many Westfield residents have deep ties to the military. American flags and lawn chairs lined the streets of Westfield as the Memorial Day Parade kicked off at City Hall. What's open and closed on Memorial Day in Massachusetts? High school marching bands and retired military Humvees strolled down Court Street, tossing candy and tiny American flags. Westfield Mayor Michael McCabe told 22News what this holiday is all about. 'It's about remembrance of those people that have gone before us and have fallen in service to their country,' McCabe said. 'You know, everybody's related to a military vet. My dad's a military vet, my father-in-law's a military vet, brothers and sisters, they're all veterans of service.' Memorial Day parades like the one in Westfield were seen all across the state to honor our fallen service members. One Westfield Councilwoman can relate to this very well. Cindy Harris is the daughter of a Korean War veteran, Frank Carlson, who died in action in 1954. She spoke about her relationship with past and current service members. 'As far as I'm concerned. everybody in serves in the service, any branch, is a brother and sister of mine,' Harris said. 'My father died when I was this big, and every Memorial Day is like going to another funeral. But we all stay happy and put one foot in front of the other. We think about them and enjoy our life because that's what they wanted us to do.' Today, there are over 37,000 fallen service members from Massachusetts. WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.