Veterans Commissioner, Portland Officials Honor Town’s Wartime Veterans at Ceremony

WWII veteran Jeanette E. Bailey receives

the Connecticut War Time Service Medal

from Dept. of Veterans Affairs Commis-

sioner as Rep. Christie Carpino and Sen.

Art Linares look on.

PORTLAND, CT – State Senator Art Linares (R-33) and Representative Christie Carpino (R-32) were joined by Department of Veteran Affairs Commissioner, Sean Connolly, First Selectwoman Susan Bransfield, and Town Clerk Ryan J. Curley at the Portland Veterans Wartime Service Ceremony on June 29 at Portland High School. They distributed Connecticut War Time Service Medals to about 60 recipients or their families.

Rep. Carpino welcomed the audience to the ceremony after the presentation of the colors by the Portland Fire Department and National Anthem played by the National Honor Guard.

“It is such an honor to be here to recognize your service today. It’s fitting that we have this ceremony to recognize your service so close to July 4^th when we celebrate our nation’s hard won freedoms,” Rep. Carpino said. “Even today, our service members are defending those freedoms from attack at home and abroad by forces that would destroy what we have. For your efforts, your sacrifice, for all you have given for our country, ‘Thank you’ just isn’t enough. This ceremony is only a small way that our state can show you the enormous gratitude we have for your service.”

First Selectwoman Bransfield and Town Clerk Curley read aloud the names of each recipient, including those being honored posthumously.  Rep. Carpino and Sen. Linares took turns giving recipients a bar pin that accompanies the medal pinned on the veterans by Commissioner Connolly.

“The men and women I had the pleasure of meeting are truly heroes,” Sen. Linares said. “They answered the call of duty to protect our nation and others. We had veterans from every military conflict dating back to WWII. It was a privilege to shake their hands and present them with a small token of gratitude from the State of Connecticut. To be able to honor them in front of their families and each other is an experience I will never forget.”

“It is truly an honor to pin the Connecticut Wartime Service Medal on Connecticut’s great veterans and be a part of such an incredible showing of appreciation for their service, sacrifice and dedication to our state and country,” said Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Veterans Affairs, Sean M. Connolly.

The Connecticut War Time Service Medal is available to Connecticut Veterans who have performed at least 90 days of wartime service as a Connecticut resident. For more information about the Connecticut War Time Service Medal program visit www.ct.gov/ctva or call 860-616-3600.