By Julie Marrinucci
Hometown Weekly Correspondent
“The best part of this project was learning all about people in Walpole who sacrificed their lives,” said Rocco Lewis, a Walpole High School junior. “And this might sound crazy, but being out in nature, in the quiet, focusing on documenting these veterans, it really brought me peace.”
Lewis was describing his work on a year-long project for the Walpole Veterans Services Office. The goal? To document every veteran buried in the town’s eight public cemeteries.
Ian Rogers, Director of Veterans Services for Walpole, Medfield, and Sherborn explained that each year, before Memorial Day, the Veterans Services Committee and the Veterans Services Office come together to replace all the flags of veterans buried in Walpole. “As the date approached during my first year, it became clear that a list of these veterans. along with a map of where they are buried, would be very helpful on the day of the ‘flag swap.’”
Rogers spoke of his connection with Lewis, inviting the student to read the Governor’s Proclamation at one of Walpole’s veteran services. “Rocco did a great job and I thanked him for a job well done,” Rogers said. “So when he reached out to ask what else he could do to help out Veteran Services, I immediately thought of the graves project. I knew it would be a daunting task, but if Rocco could document names in even a couple of the cemeteries, it would give us a great head start.”
As it turned out, Lewis went above and beyond. For the better part of a year, armed with a pen and a notebook, the Walpole junior visited all eight cemeteries, documenting more than 1,500 graves with names, birth and death dates, branches of service, and sometimes specific wars fought.
Growing up in a family dedicated to service - several relatives served in the military or in law enforcement - Lewis has always wanted to give back in some way. “Honestly, my biggest priority in taking on this project was to give back to the community and to the veterans who who fought for my freedom,” he said.
Challenges, surprises, and specific memories dot the year-long project.
“With some graves dating back to the the 1600s and 1700s, a few were just so old, they were unreadable,” Lewis said. “On one of these, I was surprised to see that Gettysburg was the place where this soldier died.”
Lewis also noted that many of these veterans were his age or younger when they died. “So many of these veterans lied about their age to join the Army or Navy. They would only be a year older than me - and that’s crazy to think about.”
He also spoke of the grave of Unknown Soldiers in the Kendall St. Cemetery and the gentleman he met who was visiting the grave of a friend. “He told me they both enlisted together, but he wasn’t able to go to war. However, his friend did go and was killed in action,” Lewis said.
Rogers of Veterans Service saw Lewis’s determination and thoughtfulness throughout the project.
“One of the things I find impressive about Rocco is that during the process, he text me multiple times about interesting gravestones he had found. He wasn’t just going through the motions; he was absorbing the information on the headstones and really thinking about the sacrifice that was made,” Rogers explained. “All of us at Veterans Services applaud his efforts and dedication. We can never thank him enough for all he’s done.”
For Lewis, this project has put Walpole veterans’ service into crystal clear focus. “I don’t think I ever took it for granted, but I feel so much more grateful for what they did for me, my family, and so many others to live free,” he explained. “All those who may have gone unnoticed can now be recognized for their bravery.”
