The solemn martial music of a bagpipe and a bugle wafted through the serpentine lanes of the North End Saturday morning, Nov. 17, as veterans, clergy, congregants and passersby paid tribute to the fallen from the nation’s latest wars. The group of about 50 gathered behind Old North Church for the rededication of a memorial to service members killed in Iraq and Afghanistan and the unveiling of bronze plaques honoring American and British fighters who gave their lives in war.
Speakers reflected on recent casualties, as well as those lost in earlier conflicts, such as World War I, which was remembered last weekend as Veterans Day marked the 100th anniversary of combat’s end.
The Rt. Rev. Alan M. Gates, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts, suggested in a prayer that “the history of our Anglo-American heritage reminds us that our hostilities do cease, and that enmity can be transformed into bonds of deepest friendship.”