Veterans Affairs Committee advances naming of eight Marlborough squares

MARLBOROUGH — March 19, 2025 — Marlborough committee unanimously backs naming eight squares for fallen veterans and a Gold Star Families Plaza. The Veterans Affairs Committee voted 3-0 Wednesday on Mayor J. Christian Dumas's order 25-1009385, sending it to the full council with a request to suspend rules Monday so signs can be installed before Memorial Day. Veterans Services Director Michael Hennessy and Veterans Council representative Matt Sargent said 240 Marlborough service members have died in uniform from King Philip's War through 2020, and that the eight honorees — including Canadian Army veterans Amédée Lecours and Alfred Desmarais and Albanian immigrant Charles Demeter Cosma — were chosen partly because photographs survive for the new biographical signs. Hennessy said upgraded signs came in at roughly a quarter of the budgeted cost. The plaza behind City Hall at 140 Main St. will be dedicated to the city's Gold Star families, an addition Councilor Kathleen Robey called overdue recognition for parents who "don't really get recognized."