Walter Maresco

Walter Maresco served in the United States Air Force and attained the rank of Airman First Class.

He was stationed in Okinawa, Japan in the mid-1960s when he volunteered to go to Vietnam, where he served more than a year in Cam Rahn Bay. He felt serving was an honor, and in his own words, “I love my country. I love my family.”

Mr. Maresco is the Commander of Medford's American Legion John R. Cacioppo Post 1848, Sergeant at Arms at VFW Post 2937, and is a Trustee of the Medford Chamber of Commerce.

His words are exemplified in his actions. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Mr. Maresco walked alone in the 2020 Medford Memorial Day parade wearing a combat helmet and green fatigues, carrying a prisoner-of-war/missing-in-action flag. The rest of the parade consisted of a motorcade of police vehicles flashing their lights and blaring their sirens, a fleet of fire trucks, and motorists waving miniature American flags from their open windows. During the mile-long trek on the parade route, he stopped at multiple memorials and saluted.

Mr. Maresco said his fallen comrades were with him. He said, “All the vets we are doing this for are with me, behind me. I made a promise to myself and to them, and to God, for the men who couldn’t come back, that each time, I would do it.”

Nancy Young of Medford, whose son, Marine Lance Cpl. Jared Kremm, was killed in a mortar attack in Operation Iraqi Freedom on October 27, 2005, said of the parade that day, “Today means everything for him to be remembered. People forget, they tend to forget. And it’s every day for me and every day for a lot of us.” Ms. Young said the freedoms Americans enjoy are because of heroes like her son.

Mr. Maresco’s humility and commitment should be acknowledged. His dedication and allegiance to those who sacrificed their lives for freedom is commendable.