KEYNOTES: Ceremony in 2018 dedicated bridge to Pfc. Thibault
Rosemary Rimkus
Washington Street bridge, the main thoroughfare over the Assabet River in downtown Hudson, was dedicated to the memory of Vietnam War hero, Army Pfc. Kenneth M. Thibault on June 16, 2018, following the reconstruction of the bridge. Thibault, a 1966 graduate of Hudson High School, was killed by hostile fire in Binh Dinh, Vietnam, on April 2, 1967, two days after his 20th birthday.
Army Lt. Col. David S. Diaz was keynote speaker at the dedication, in addition to state Sen. Jamie Eldridge, state Rep. Kate Hogan, Hudson Selectman chairman John Parent and Kenny’s Hudson High School classmate Jay Murphy, also a Vietnam War veteran. Jason Caron led the Hudson High School band in the national anthem and “God Bless America.” The Color guard was provided by Hudson Police Department and members of Hudson Amvets Post 208, which has been named in Thibault’s memory.
KEYNOTES: Family remembers Capt. Seth Michaud
Rosemary Rimkus
After many months of reconstruction of the ancient Houghton Street Bridge, it was dedicated to the memory of U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Seth Michaud, with ceremonies on the site on May 25, 2015. Michaud, a helicopter pilot, was killed in Africa during Operation Enduring Freedom on June 22, 2003. (In 2018, the Washington Street bridge was dedicated to the memory of Pfc. Kenneth M. Thibault, killed in Vietnam in 1969, which will be the subject of another story.) Michaud’s widow, Karen Michaud-Goldsmith, and young son, Ian, were among those at the dedication. Michaud, son of former Chestnut Street residents Fran and Karen Michaud, was an honor student in the Hudson High School class of 1994, where he played soccer for four years, an Eagle Scout and a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1998. He was 27 years old when he was killed in a helicopter crash in 2003. His parents moved from Hudson eight years ago, and