Northfield VFW Post 9874

06/14/2026

The History of Flag Day

Flag Day is observed every year on June 14 to commemorate the adoption of the United States flag by the Second Continental Congress on June 14, 1777. On that day, Congress passed the first Flag Resolution, stating that the flag would have 13 alternating red and white stripes and 13 white stars on a blue field, representing the original 13 colonies.

How Flag Day Began

For many years after 1777, there was no official national celebration of the flag. Local communities, schools, and patriotic organizations held observances on their own. One of the most influential supporters was Bernard J. Cigrand, a Wisconsin schoolteacher often called the "Father of Flag Day." In 1885, he organized what is considered the first formal Flag Day observance and spent decades promoting a national holiday dedicated to the flag.

Other educators and patriotic leaders helped spread the idea through schools and civic organizations across the country. By the late 1800s, many communities were already celebrating June 14 as Flag Day.

Becoming a National Observance

1877: The first nationwide observance marked the 100th anniversary of the Flag Resolution.

1916: President Woodrow Wilson officially proclaimed June 14 as Flag Day.

1949: President Harry S. Truman signed an Act of Congress permanently establishing June 14 as National Flag Day.

1966: Congress authorized the President to proclaim the week containing June 14 as National Flag Week each year.

Is Flag Day a Federal Holiday?

No. Flag Day is a nationally recognized observance, but it is not a federal holiday, so government offices, banks, and businesses generally remain open.

Why the Flag Is Important

Throughout American history, the flag has become a symbol of:

Freedom and independence

National unity

Service and sacrifice

The values of the Constitution and democracy

The flag gained special significance during the American Civil War, when it became a powerful symbol of national unity and patriotism.

A Connection Veterans Appreciate

For many veterans and members of organizations like the The American Legion, Flag Day is more than a celebration of a piece of cloth. It is a day to honor the generations of Americans who served under the Stars and Stripes and defended the freedoms it represents.

Interesting fact: June 14 is also the birthday of the United States Army. The Army was established on June 14, 1775—two years before the flag was officially adopted.

A fitting Flag Day message is:

"We don't honor the flag because it is cloth. We honor it because it represents the people, principles, and sacrifices that built and protect our nation."

Happy Flag Day! 🇺🇸

06/14/2026

Happy 251st Birthday United States Army!

Happy Birthday, U.S. Army. Today we celebrate 251 years of defending and protecting our nation’s freedom.

From Saratoga and Yorktown to mountains, deserts, and jungles across the globe, Army Veterans have made countless sacrifices to defend our nation. Your discipline, adaptability, and leadership have inspired us all. Thank you to generations of Army Veterans for your service and sacrifice.

06/11/2026

For this Friday’s social from 5:00-7:00 we will be serving a choice of two specials:
1. Jumbo Burgers w “the fixins” and loaded mashed potatoes.
2. Grilled Pastrami Rueben with dill cucumber salad.
And a desert provided by our South Hadley Post 3104 Veteran brothers.
Mix and match!
Hope we see you!!!

06/08/2026

Good story on the true burden and cost of war. God bless all the brave men and woman such as Ira Hayes. God bless all that made the ultimate sacrifice and those that still carry the “scars” of war.

Ira Hayes drank himself unconscious after watching America turn his dead friends into a photograph.

By 1945, millions recognized the image instantly.

Six Marines raising an American flag on Iwo Jima.

The photograph became one of the most famous wartime images ever taken. Newspapers printed it. Statues were modeled after it. War bonds were sold across the country.

To America, it looked like victory.

To Ira Hayes, it looked like a graveyard.

Three of the men in the photograph were already dead by the time the country celebrated it.

And Hayes could not stop thinking about them.

When the flag went up on Mount Suribachi on February 23, 1945, the battle for Iwo Jima was far from over.

Marines were still being torn apart by artillery, mortars, hidden machine gun nests, and Japanese soldiers in tunnels.

The black volcanic sand smelled like sulfur and blood.

Bodies covered the beaches so densely that some Marines later admitted they stopped looking down while walking.

Ira Hayes was only 22 years old.

A Pima Native American from Arizona, he had already survived some of the worst fighting in the Pacific by the time he climbed Suribachi carrying the replacement flag.

The famous photograph happened almost accidentally. Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal captured the moment in seconds.

Then the image exploded across America.

Suddenly, Hayes was no longer just a Marine.

He became a national symbol.

The government immediately pulled Hayes and two surviving flag-raisers from combat and sent them across the country for the Seventh War Loan Drive.

Cities packed with cheering crowds welcomed them like celebrities. Politicians shook their hands. Reporters followed constantly.

But something felt deeply wrong to Hayes.

The country celebrated the photograph while the men inside it were disappearing.

During speeches, people asked about heroism, courage, and glory.

Hayes kept thinking about the Marines who never came home. Especially Harlon Block.

He became obsessed with correcting misidentifications in the photograph. Military officials initially got one flag-raiser wrong. Hayes privately carried enormous guilt because Block’s mother was grieving without proper recognition.

Most people around him wanted silence. Hayes would not let it go.

At one point, he reportedly hitchhiked over 1,300 miles from Arizona to Texas to tell Harlon Block’s parents the truth. Not for publicity. Not for money. Because dead Marines deserved honesty more than America deserved mythology.

By then, Hayes was already struggling. Crowds overwhelmed him. Friends said alcohol became the only way to numb the memories.

The memories never stopped. Not the gunfire. Not the bodies. Not the faces. Especially the faces.

Most Americans saw six heroes raising a flag. Ira Hayes saw the three men who never made it off the island alive.

By the early 1950s, his life collapsed under alcoholism, arrests, and emotional isolation.

Then, on January 24, 1955, Ira Hayes was found dead in the desert near his home in Arizona. He was 32.

The official cause involved exposure and alcohol. Marines believed part of him had never really left Iwo Jima.

Years earlier, a little girl asked him what it felt like to become famous after raising the flag. He answered quietly:

“How can I feel like a hero when 250 of my buddies hit the island with me… and only 27 walked off alive?”

06/07/2026

Some pictures from tonite’s State Convention in Springfield Ma….congrats to the outgoing and incoming VFW Department of Ma Officers!

06/06/2026

06/06/2026

Never forget the sacrifice…..

06/05/2026

Interesting piece of military history…..click on the link attached for more detailed biography.

A few short days after his death in Brattleboro, VT on June 1, 1905 at age 71, Herbert B. Titus returned to his hometown one last time. After his funeral service concluded at the Centre Congregational Church on Brattleboro's Main Street, his body was escorted by members of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) up to the suspension bridge spanning the Connecticut River which connected Brattleboro with Chesterfield, then up the hill along dirt roads to pass the West Burying Ground where his grandparents and many of his siblings (taken years earlier by sickness) already lay. Continuing on through the villages of West Chesterfield and Chesterfield, they ultimately arrived at his final resting place in Ware-Joslyn Cemetery, just up the road from his parents farm (now the home of Michael & Bridget Leclaire). Here his remains were interred.

One of Chesterfield's "Notable Citizens", you can learn more by visiting these links:
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/96015951/herbert_bradwell-titus
https://www.chesterfieldhistoricalsociety-nh.org/bvt-brig-gen-herbert-b-titus

06/05/2026

This evening we recognized Ed Doolittle for his 60th VFW anniversary. He held the Post together for many years….he previously served as Commander and he served 44 years as the Post Quartermaster. It is because of Ed Doolittle and others just like him that our Post and other Posts survived! So to our Ed, we most gratefully thank him for the positive attitude and 6 decades of service to the Veteran community.