WESTBOROUGH – The Westborough Veterans Advisory Board has selected Paul Freeman Jr. as the recipient of the 2023 Veteran of the Year.
Freeman served more than 21 years in the U.S. Navy, attaining the rank of chief warrant officer, serving in roles from mine countermeasures to underway replenishment to postal operations for a Defense Department facility routing mail to overseas locations.
He is one of six family members who served in the U.S. armed forces.
On his return to the Westborough area in the mid-1990s, he became involved with community activities and veteran affairs, educating and promoting the services available to fellow veterans.
Freeman served on local committees, including the MIA/POW committee, the multicultural committee and the Veterans Advisory Board, for which he was a 25-year member until his retirement from that role in 2023. Freeman has continued to be an active member of Veterans Outreach Metro West.
He served as the assistant veterans service agent for Westborough in the 1990s providing valuable support and assistance to returning veterans to the town. He continued assisting in these efforts for many years. His steady demeanor and deep knowledge of services available to veterans made him a very valuable and sought-after resource.
He was instrumental in starting the Veterans Corner at Westborough TV, was on the design committees for the Veterans Grove Memorial in Pine Grove Cemetery and the Persian Gulf memorial at Forbes and provided designs for the new Nourse Street Cemetery.
He has spent many hours visiting and comforting veterans throughout the area both at their homes and at the nursing and continuing care facilities nearby. His concern for and attention to the needs and concerns of veterans is utmost in his thoughts.
The advisory board will present him his award at the Select Board’s meeting the evening of Nov. 28. All friends, colleagues and town residents are invited to attend the presentation.
