The annual Memorial Day services began at the American Legion Post 257 in Vineyard Haven, where the walls are filled with photographs recounting the personal history of America’s armed conflicts as they were experienced by generations of men and women who called Martha’s Vineyard home.
As per tradition, the events then include a parade to the Oak Grove Cemetery, but due to rain and a deep fog this year, the ceremony was moved to the Tisbury School gymnasium, where over 20 veterans representing nearly every branch of military service took part.
“The fog burns up slowly and early, the harbor goes silver, our flowers bloom and the stones, the old stones in our cemeteries seem to catch the morning light in a way that they do not at other times of the year,” said guest speaker George Pimental, U.S. Army veteran and the Dukes County veterans services officer. “I believe our Island knows what this time of year means.”
During the ceremony, Rev. Stephen Harding, pastor of Grace Church in Vineyard Haven, recited a short prayer and asked the room to remember the 13 service members who were killed recently during the conflict between the United States and Iran.
Afterwards, Tisbury select board member Connie Alexander read aloud a proclamation signed by Gov. Maura Healey which recognized the day as Memorial Day and urged residents of the Commonwealth to participate in its observance.
In his speech, Mr. Pimental noted that Martha’s Vineyard is a small community where everyone knows each other. And it is that smallness that makes the Island’s sacrifices feel so real, he said.
“When an Islander does not come home or they return wounded or not quite the same, the Island pulls together and we respond as we have for generations,” said Mr. Pimental. “I think about what it meant to leave our Island or any town halfway around the world, to board a ferry and to watch the cliffs grow small, not knowing if you’d see them again.”
Service comes in many forms, acknowledged Mr. Pimental. It encapsulates more than our military branches and includes our first responders, health care providers, volunteers and many more, he said.
“When we all enter military service, we take an oath, a promise to the Constitution of the United States of America, not a person or agenda,” said Mr. Pimental. “We serve to protect and defend the Constitution and all Americans and those seeking to become [American].”
Before this year’s ceremony finished, JoAnn Murphy, commander of Post 257 and the event’s moderator, read a list of Vineyard veterans who died since last year’s Memorial Day ceremony. The list included: Louise C. Yap, public service cadet, World War II; Donald Wayne Medeiras, US Army, Vietnam War; Frederick Francis Cournoyer, US Army, Korean War; Francis Richard Bernard, US Air Force during peacetime; William Joseph Connolly, US Army, Korean War; Dr. Michael Jacobs, Korean War; Dennis Jason, United States Coast Guard Seaman, Vietnam War; William Davenport Jr., Paul J. Humber, US Army, Iraq War; Woodrow Wayne Williams, United States Marine Corps, Vietnam War; Lance Coble, Vietnam War; Kenneth Joseph Hills Sr., US Army, Korean War; Timothy Joseph Mullen, US Army, Vietnam War; and Leo Catino, US Army, Vietnam War.
In 1982, Legion Post 257 had over 450 members, Ms. Murphy said. Today, there are only 87.
“We lost so many of our veterans,” said Ms. Murphy. “We like to recognize the people that we have lost.”
This article appears in May 29, 2026.