Read on Twitter
[Thread] At last year’s Memorial Day Ceremony, I loved hearing the story of two neighbors from Broad Street, Robert Crandall and Raymond James.
They both decided together that their lives weren’t too much to risk for freedom, they left Broad Street together to fight in WWII and they paid the ultimate sacrifice.
This story demonstrated clearly that these men and woman who have given their lives are etched into the fabrics of our communities. We can’t forget these stories.
That’s why this year, even though Memorial Day looks different, I wanted to make sure we were still telling these stories and honoring these memories.
Thank you to those who submitted pictures and stories of their loved ones - I will post them here. I encourage you to keep sending in pictures and stories of your own loved ones to me today and I will make sure they get posted.
This is 1st Lt. Gustav J. Soderlund. He was born in East Providence April 1917. He was the co-pilot of a plane that was shot down over Germany on May 12, 1944.
His family called him Bud because he hated the name Gustav. His body was recovered after the war and brought home to RI.
This is US Army Private Henry Beaulieu. He served in World War II with 35th Infantry Division, 137th Infantry Regiment and made the ultimate sacrifice for his nation.
Thank you will never be sufficient, but we can keep telling their stories to make sure their memories live on.
