The City of Cambridge, Massachusetts will host a national celebration in honor of the 230^th birthday of the United States Army, on the Cambridge Common, birthplace of the United States Army, Tuesday, June 14, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Special Note: In preparation for this historic event, a helicopter will be practicing a landing on Monday, June 13, from approximately 1 – 1:30 p.m., along with an actual parachute demonstration on Tuesday. Public safety units will provide a secure area for the practice landing.

The purpose of the ceremony is to commemorate the proud heritage and a mutual commitment shared by the City of Cambridge and the United States Army that began in the earliest days of our country’s existence, and continues to the present day and beyond.

The militia that defeated the British regulars in Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, followed the British retreat towards Boston and encamped upon the Cambridge Common and barracked in the halls of Harvard University.  Emboldened by this militia's success, the Continental Congress declared this militia on June 14, 1775 to be the Continental Army.  Upon this declaration, General George Washington rode from Philadelphia to Cambridge to take command of the Army on July 3, 1775.

The observance, scheduled to begin at noon, will feature the Under-Secretary of the Army, Mr. Raymond Dubois as its keynote speaker.  Mr. Robert M. Stevens, Director of the city’s Department of Veterans’ Services, will serve as Master of Ceremonies. Mayor Michael A. Sullivan will give the city’s greetings.

Also scheduled to speak or participate in the program: Thomas Kelley, MA Secretary of Veterans’ Services and Medal of Honor recipient; Governor Mitt Romney; CRLS Drama student Sumbul Siddiqui, who will read a Presidential Proclamation; and special guest, Master David Smith, the 11- year-old son of our most recent Medal of Honor recipient, Sergeant First Class Paul R. Smith, who received our nation’s highest award for bravery and gallantry posthumously just two months ago.

There will be a wreath laying ceremony at the Washington monument followed by the blowing of “Taps” by Bugler, Robinson Pyle.

Cambridge will also pay tribute to its veterans and their families: Cambridge veterans, Russ Buchanan, 105 years old, WWI and WWII; Leo Ciccolo, WWII, oldest living member of the VFW (59 years), Edward Handy, author and former POW Stalag 17, Marvin Gilmore, WWII Normandy Beach veteran and Virginia Moran Hurley, representing the Gold Star families of Cambridge.

The ceremony and pre-ceremony will definitely be ones to remember. The Military District of Washington will send its famous Continental Color Guard, Fife and Drums, and the Old Guard Drill Team to augment our local reenactors encamping on the Common.  Additionally, soldiers and equipment from the 94th Regional Readiness Command, and the Mass National Guard will join reenactors from the Lexington Minutemen, the 5th Mass. Battery, the 54th Glory Brigade, and the 101^st Combat Engineers, as well as an exhibit of the Soldier Systems Center's Future Force Warrior project.  This will give our citizens a living impression of the many stages of the Army's proud history, from its rudimentary beginnings to its modern-day global operations. Also in attendance will be recently returned veterans from the Global War on Terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan and Col. Patrick Forrester, astronaut.  A parachute jump onto the Common by the U.S. Army’s Silver Wings parachute team and the landing of a Army BlackHawk Helicopter will conclude the pre-ceremony. 

A schedule of the day’s activities, which are open to the public, follows:

9 a.m. to 11 a.m. – Revolutionary, Civil War, WWII Reenactors, U.S. Army and Mass National Guard    Displays and the U.S. Army Cinema Van

11 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. – The Military District of Washington’s famous U.S. Army Drill Team and Continental Color Guard, Fife and Drum demonstration.

11:30 a.m. to 11:50 a.m. – Performance by the U.S. Army’s 94^th Regional Readiness Band.

11:50 a.m. - Noon – Parachute jump on the Common by the U.S. Army’s Silver Wings parachute team.

Noon to 1:00 p.m. – Army Birthday Observance

For more information, contact:

Mr. Robert M. Stevens, Director
Department of Veterans’ Services
51 Inman Street, Second Floor
Cambridge, MA 02139
Tel:  (617) 349-4764
Fax: (617) 349-4097
TTY: (617) 492-0235
Email: veterans@cambridgema.gov