'Salute to Veterans' exhibit on display

Some of the clippings on exhibit during the "Salute to Veterans" display at the Marlborough Senior Center Marlborough - It was Nov. 11, 1918, when Allied Forces and Germany temporarily ceased fighting that became the unofficia l en d of World War I. The following Nov. 11, President Woodrow Wilson declared the date "Armistice Day." In 1938, the day became a legal national holiday meant to commemorate the veterans of World War I and later all wars.

This year, in addition to the city's traditional Veterans Day celebrations, Marlborough Historical Society will host a one-weekend opening of a multi-media exhibit. The exhibit, which will run Saturday Nov. 8 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday Nov. 9 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Marlborough Senior Center, became possible thanks to a generous donation of more than 850 photos and biographies from Nancy Colena.

Jack Gracey, curator of the society's museum, explained that the society had received in the mail a photo album from Colena, which she had put together with weekly clippings about World War II soldiers that were posted in the Marlborough Enterprise during war years.

"It came in unsolicited … It just arrived and it has been such a wonderful gift," Gracey said. "It was assembled in such a high quality that the photos, even though they were newspaper clippings, were in very good condition."

After receiving and reviewing the photos, local historians found that within their own collections they had over 100 additional photos and another 1,000 names of local soldiers.

"It is an immense number of men … When you see the pictures some of the men, [they] were so young looking … It overwhelmed me," Gracey said. "The stark black-and-white photos provide graphic evidence to the truth of the ancient aphorism: wars are planned by the old and fought by the young."

At this point, the Historical Society has over 1,000 photos and a list of about 2,400 men and women who served. That is a staggering number, he said, when you compare it to the number of local residents, which at the time was no more than 15,000, including children and elderly.

"The people in Marlborough do not have an understanding of the strong sense of patriotism that Marlborough residents have always had," Gracey said.

Since the first conflicts in the United States, the city has always had a larger than average enrollment in the military, according to Gracey. After reviewing statistics from the Civil War, Gracey explained that 1,000 of the 5,000 residents served the country.

"That was 40 percent of the adult population," he said.

In addition to over 1,000 photos, there will be other donated artifacts from World War II on display, including uniforms, and letters written home from soldiers.

"It is a wonderful opportunity to visit a bit of our recent past," Gracey said.

By hosting the event at the Senior Center, Gracey said, he hopes that it will make the exhibit more accessible to local veterans. He also hopes that younger veterans and families and children will come to the event. In viewing the exhibit, Gracey said, it communicates a sense of the sacrifice that many of these men and women made to this country. With many of the local World War II veterans getting on in age, he explained, it is important that while we still have them here that we talk to them and hear their stories.

"It was providential that we got this package when we did," Gracey said.

For more information, visit the Marlborough Historical Society online at www.historicmarlborough. org.