Fall River remembers a Bataan Death March soldier as Acushnet and Somerset honor their veterans

SOUTH COAST Fall River laid a wreath Tuesday for Cpl. David Miller, a city native who survived the Bataan Death March and died a prisoner of war, as South Coast communities held ceremonies in the days before Veterans Day.

The city gathered at Miller Green on Tuesday, Nov. 10, the 251st birthday of the Marine Corps. Acushnet held its ceremony at the American Legion on Saturday, Nov. 7, after rain canceled its parade, and Somerset Access Television posted its recording of the 2026 Veterans Breakfast and Ceremony honoring Somerset's veterans on Monday, Nov. 9.

Wednesday's parades and ceremonies, from Fairhaven's 9 a.m. march on Main Street to Fall River's 1:30 p.m. parade, are listed in our Veterans Day guide, and each town's program joins this story as its recording and photos are posted.

Fall River: remembering Cpl. David Miller

Fall River's Department of Veterans Services held its Cpl. David Miller Remembrance Ceremony at the Miller Green monument with Mayor Paul Coogan and a representative of state Rep. Alan Silvia's office on hand. Miller served in the Army Air Forces in World War II, survived the Bataan Death March in the Philippines and died as a prisoner of war in July 1943, the city's director of veterans services told the gathering. Tens of thousands of American and Filipino service members were forced to march after the surrender on Bataan on April 9, 1942, the director said. "He never returned home to Fall River."

Coogan said Miller deserves recognition for "all he did to make this country what it is today," and that "it's very, very important that we honor our patriots at this time of the year," as the city prepared for its Veterans Day parade, services and other events. The woman the director credited with bringing the ceremony back said Miller grew up in the city's South End and was 26 when he died in captivity, and she thanked the man who organized the ceremony for many years. She laid the wreath at the monument before a moment of silence, and Taps sounded later in the ceremony.

The director also saluted a Fall River native serving as a Navy petty officer third class who walked the Bataan Memorial Death March at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico this past March, more than eight decades after Miller and thousands of others were forced to march. "A memorial only tells a name," the director said as the ceremony closed. "It is our responsibility to keep telling the story."

Somerset: a breakfast that thanked every branch

Somerset's Veterans Breakfast and Ceremony began with veterans of each branch standing in turn, and a Somerset Berkley Regional High School student sang the national anthem.

State Rep. Justin Thurber, who said he served 29 years in the Air Force, told veterans their service never ends when the uniform comes off. "When you served, you didn't care about someone's political affiliation. You didn't care about their religion. You didn't care what they looked like," Thurber said. He asked veterans to bring friends who have drifted away to events like the breakfast and to a veterans' service officer. "We're not going to leave anyone behind," he said.

The keynote speaker, Brig. Gen. Peter Fiorentino of the Massachusetts Army National Guard, said he had recently returned from deployment as deputy commanding general for maneuver of the 42nd Infantry Division. He told the room that fewer than one-half of 1% of Americans serve in the military at any given time. "The greatest strength of our American military is not the equipment we possess, it's the people who serve," Fiorentino said.

Partway through his remarks, Fiorentino introduced his wife, the state's military spouse liaison, who presented the first Strength Behind the Service recognition, a new state honor for military spouses that comes with a coin and a certificate signed by the state adjutant general. The first recipient, she said, has helped raise more than $10,000 to assist veterans and their families over the past several years.

Acushnet: a ceremony in place of a rained-out parade

Acushnet canceled the parade it had set for Saturday and invited everyone to the American Legion, 71 Hope St., at 11 a.m. instead, according to the town's Nov. 6 notice. Veterans' Agent Bradford Fish opened by telling the crowd the veterans groups had called off the march because of the rain, and he said he thought that was a good call.

A middle school chorus sang "God Bless America," "America the Beautiful" and the national anthem, and a Korean War veteran gave the invocation. The commander of the town's VFW post told fellow veterans to treat the holiday as their Christmas. "So, when somebody comes up to you and shakes your hand and gives you a hug and says, 'Thank you,' say, 'You're welcome. We appreciate your gratitude,'" he said.

The American Legion post's commander read a Veterans Day poem and said the veterans organizations are losing more members to age every year than they bring in, so the Legion, the VFW and the DAV are working together. Board of Selectmen Chair Kevin Gaspar told the crowd, "Our veterans are our neighbors, our friends, our parents, our grandparents, our sons and daughters."

State Rep. Mark Sylvia, state Rep. Steven Ouellette and Rep.-elect Jesse St. Gelais spoke as well. "You answered the call to serve us. Now it is our responsibility to serve you," St. Gelais said. Ouellette, who said he is finishing his term, reminded veterans that the 988 crisis line is confidential by call or text and that veterans press 1.

Fish asked Jim Gagnon of New Bedford, this year's Southeastern Massachusetts Veteran of the Year, to stand for the crowd's applause, and the program included a reading of the governor's Veterans Day proclamation, which says more than 274,000 veterans live in Massachusetts.

Guest speaker William Comeau, a Vietnam veteran, said he and a friend entered the Army on the same day and went to Vietnam together, and that the friend "got two Purple Hearts protecting me." Comeau said he came home at 21 and did not feel like a veteran for years. "A veteran had to be at least 50 years old. That's what I thought," he said. His mother, a widow, lit candles for him while he was away, and she was so happy and proud when he came home. "I believe in candles. Candles work," Comeau said.

Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.