Lawrence, U.S. Navy Veteran Ed Nasser – VALLEY PATRIOT OF THE MONTH ~ HEROES...
The Silent Generation Lawrence’s Edmund “Ed” Nasser is a US Navy Veteran, who dedicated his entire life to his family, his church, and his community. He is well known in the Merrimack Valley through an...
View ArticleKANE’S CORNER ~ Jeffrey Hollett, Haverhill Veteran Services Officer
By Kane – July, 2022 Kane went on a field trip to interview Haverhill Veteran Service Officer Jeffrey Hollett at his office in Haverhill, MA. Jeffrey has dedicated his professional life to helping...
View ArticleHEROES IN OUR MIDST, Valley Patriot of the Month – Dracut’s New VSO; US Army...
By: John Cuddy – 07-22 Dracut’s newly hired, Veterans Services Officer, David Campisano joined the US Army in 2001, serving in light infantry units until 2016. David trained as an Infantryman,...
View ArticleLawrence’s Veterans’ Services Officer Jamie Melendez ~ HEROES IN OUR MIDST –...
By: John Cuddy – Aug. 2022 Lawrence Massachusetts Director,Veterans’ Services, Sargent First Class Jaime L. Melendez Jr. US Army-Retired, was born in Lawrence Massachusetts. He attended the local...
View ArticleGroveland’s Steve Bird, Combat Medic with the 1st Air Cavalry ~ VALLEY...
By: John Cuddy – Sept. 2022 Groveland’s Steve Bird was conceived by his parents in 1946 at the US Military Academy in West Point, New York. His dad was a US Army Soldier, serving our Nation as an...
View ArticleSal DeFranco, US Navy SEAL & Small Business Owner ~ Valley Patriot of the...
By: John Cuddy – Oct. 2022 HAVERHILL – Natives of Massachusetts, Sal DeFranco and his wife Dana own Battle Grounds Coffee Company, an award-winning roasting and café operation located in Haverhill,...
View ArticleGretchen Smith – US Air Force – Fighting for Homeless Veterans ~ VALLEY...
By: John Cuddy – 11/22 Lawrence’s, and the rest of our Merrimack Valley’s Homeless are fed daily by organizations such as the Cor Unum Meal Center, Bread & Roses, Good Shepard Center, and the TMF...
View ArticleEd Murphy; Navy Vet, Lawrence Firefighter, Veteran’s Den Band ~ VALLEY...
By: John Cuddy – 12/22 Lawrence’s Ed Murphy grew up in the South Lawrence East neighborhood, living in Veteran’s Housing at the Lawrence Stadium Projects as his dad, Edward J. Murphy was a Navy...
View ArticleLawrence Native Art Jacobs, US Army Silver Star and Three Purple Hearts ~...
By: John Cuddy – 01-23 Little did I know that my previous story about US Army Medic Steve Bird from Groveland, and his brave efforts to treat the wounded on the battlefields of Vietnam in 1968, would...
View ArticleUS Navy Seabee Veteran Robert “Bob” Brown of Andover ~ VALLEY PATRIOT OF THE...
By: John Cuddy – 02-23 US Navy Seabee Veteran and Andover resident Robert “Bob” Brown is the son of a US Military Veteran and Massachusetts firefighter. The Valley Patriot first met up with Bob Brown...
View ArticleUS Marine, Purple Heart Recipient, Lawrence’s Daniel Cotnoir ~ VALLEY PATRIOT...
By: John Cuddy 3-23 The president of Edgar J. Racicot Funeral Home, formerly in Lawrence Massachusetts, now operating in Dracut, Massachusetts, is Lawrence native and US Marine Veteran, Daniel Cotnoir....
View ArticleKevin Lynch Receives John Ratka – Hero Veteran Award (Story and Video) ~...
By: John Cuddy – 4-23 On Friday March 31st at the Annual Valley Patriot Bash, Scholarship and Award Night, Haverhill Police Officer Kevin Lynch was awarded the Master Chief John Ratka Hero Veteran...
View ArticleValley Patriot Newspaper Raises More than $53K at Scholarship Drive
Every year, Valley Patriot publisher Tom Duggan holds an anniversary BASH to honor police officers, firefighters, veterans, and community activists, as well as to raise scholarship money for local...
View ArticleWorld War II Veteran Robert “Boots” Chouniard ~ HEROES IN OUR MIDST, Valley...
By: John Cuddy – 05-23 Despite the fact that I arrived with a two-pound box of Tripoli’s cookies, ninety-nine-year-old US Army Veteran Salisbury’s Robert “Boots” Chouniard, spent a good part of our...
View ArticleEd Girroir, U.S. Army Paratrooper and Firefighter ~ HERO IN OUR MIDST, VALLEY...
By: John Cuddy 6-23 HAVERHILL – During World War II, Haverhill’s Ed Girroir enlisted in the US Army after Pearl Harbor, with most of his friends doing the same. He served as a Paratrooper with the US...
View ArticleUS Army Vet. James Hajjar, Attorney & Lawrence Lion – HERO IN OUR MIDST ~...
By: John Cuddy – 7/23 Lawrence’s James George Hajjar, was born in Brooklyn, New York, and grew up in the Plains neighborhood in Lawrence, a community of Lebanese, Sicilian, and Irish, a few blocks...
View ArticleLawrence High School Alum Guy Curtis, VALLEY PATRIOT OF THE MONTH ~ HERO IN...
By John Cuddy LAWRENCE – Lawrence High School Alum Guy Curtis, Class of 1967, like many incoming Freshmen, wanted to play football for Lawrence High School. His family doctor would not approve him...
View ArticleStill Serving, Chris Manning & the American Legion ~ VALLEY PATRIOT OF THE...
Haverhill native Chris Manning is the current Commander of American Legion Post 4 in Haverhill, Massachusetts. Chris grew up in Haverhill, one of twelve children, his three brothers all served in the...
View ArticleOur Silent Generation Speaks – Two-Service Vet Robert Lister ~ Valley Patriot...
By: John Cuddy 10-23 Raised in Methuen, Massachusetts, where he returned to over thirty years ago, ninety-year-old Robert Lister and his daughter Joan, recently met with the Valley Patriot to tell his...
View ArticleAmerica in World War II and Korea, James Fiorello ~ VALLEY PATRIOT OF THE MONTH
By: John Cuddy – Nov. 2023 Hailing from the long-gone Boston neighborhood, once known as the West End, Methuen’s James Fiorello graduated from Boston’s Mechanic Arts High School with the class of 1941....
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