Veterans cemetery in Agawam draws families honoring Memorial Day tradition

AGAWAM — Tyler Mulville, 11, fresh from marching in a Memorial Day parade with Boy Scout Troop 821 in Westfield, cleaned some stray dead grass from his great-grandfather’s grave.

He asked his grandfather, Martin Kwatowski, if it looked better.

Kwatowski brought Tyler to the grave of his father, Tyler’s great-grandfather, at the Massachusetts Veterans Memorial Cemetery at Agawam.

Kwatowski’s father, Raymond Kwatowski, was just 17 when he served in the Army during World War II.

“He came back,” Martin Kwatowski said. “The reason I’m here is because he came back.”

Families gathered in the warm sunshine across the 61-acre state-run veterans cemetery Monday to mark Memorial Day.

“Everybody today take a few minutes and make sure you remember and recognize Memorial Day for what it is, for what it stands for,” said Gov. Maura T. Healey. “Everything that we enjoy today is only possible because of the sacrifice made.”

For Alyssa Sealander, 18, it was because her great grandmother, Dolores Sealander, brought her here to put flowers on the grave of her great grandfather, Richard Sealander.

Richard Sealander, who Alyssa Sealander never knew, served in the Coast Guard during World War II, participating in beach landings. His wife, Dolores Sealander, now rests with him.

Alyssa said that’s why she came — because it’s something her great grandmother always did.

“Each of these grave sites represents a hero,” said William C. Walls Jr., chair of the Springfield Veterans Activities Committee and former director of the Veterans Memorial Cemetery.

That extends to family members buried with their veteran loved ones, he said.

“Because if they served, their families made sacrifices, too,” he said. “This is a memorial to that service. They are all heroes.”

In the formal ceremony at the cemetery, current state Veterans Services Secretary Jon Santiago spoke of the selflessness he’s seen on display while serving.

Santiago is an emergency room physician and served as a major in the U.S. Army Reserve, deploying overseas twice.

He spoke of how service members behave under stress, even if they are injured.

“The questions these soldiers asked were not about themselves,” Santiago said. “The questions were about those they served with. You see it was never really about them. It was about their brothers and sisters in uniform. It’s about the team, be it in life or death.”

That commitment must be returned, he said, by living up to the pledge to care for veterans and their families.

“It even transcends death,” Santiago said. “And that is why today matters. If you fall in that service, we will remember you.”

And the commitment extends to veterans services and to the new $480 million Massachusetts Veterans Home in Holyoke expected to open in November 2026.

State Sen. John C. Velis, D-Westfield, is also a veteran, having served in the Army Reserves and later the National Guard in Afghanistan and South Korea.

Memorial Day is a day to focus on those who didn’t come back, he said.

“I love Veterans Day,” said state Sen. John C. Velis, D-Westfield. “Today isn’t Veterans Day.”

Velis, like Healey, pointed out that a very small percentage of the population takes up the call.

According to the Census Bureau, 6.1% of the adult American population, or 15.8 million people, identified as veterans.

“To me, it’s a reminder of service generally,” Healey said.

She wishes more would join the armed services.

“I also would love to see a civilian corps for service, so that people could find ways in their own community to serve,” she said.

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