Although Memorial Day was rainy this year, the Rindge Veterans Association still held its annual parade and services to commemorate fallen veterans at the city’s cemeteries and war memorials.
The final salute took place at Veterans Memorial Park on the Common and was led by Craig Clark, president of the organization.
In addition to Memorial Day events, Clark said club members also attend funerals, provide an honor guard at Conant High School, award a $1,000 scholarship to a Conant High School graduate and give presentations to students about being a veteran.
“It’s a small organization dedicated to local activities,” he said.
Clark, a Rindge resident for 45 years, is the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript Hometown Hero for August. In nominating him, William Herzog wrote that Clark’s service in the veterans association and as a trust fund trustee “is just the tip of the iceberg of how much Craig helps the citizens of Rindge.”
Clark was a Signal Corps officer in the Army — where he served from 1972 to 1987, reaching the rank of captain — and said he “combined my calling with my free time throughout my career,” which included stints as assistant editor for Ham Radio Magazine and Ham Radio Horizons. Herzog wrote that Clark’s “knowledge of Internet access” as a member of the town’s Teltech Committee “and of all things radio has been helpful to so many of us in Rindge.”
Clark, 72, is in the second year of his two-year term as president of the Rindge Veterans Association. He said the best part about being a member of the organization is being able to honor and be with your fellow veterans.
“We share a common brotherhood and sisterhood,” he said.
The biggest challenge, he said, is recruiting younger members. Most of the current members are Vietnam veterans or Vietnam-era veterans like himself.
“They work full time and have families,” he said of younger veterans.
Clark’s story is similar. He said he was only peripherally involved until his retirement in 2012. He also said he never claimed his veterans’ tax exemption until then.
“I thought as long as I worked, I could afford it,” he said.
As for his city activities, Clark is serving his third term as a trustee of trust funds and chairs that body as well as the Capital Improvement Program Committee.
“I grew up in municipal politics in Connecticut,” he said. “My father was chairman of the local Republican committee. I also worked for two years for the town I grew up in.”
Each month, the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript honors one of our region’s many Hometown Heroes. Nominate a Hometown Hero at tinyurl.com/3ctykcnv.
