The Troops in the Spotlight event in Hyannis, in its 17th year, has become the largest Memorial Day event in New England, according to its organizers from Cape Cod Cares for the Troops.
This year, the celebration of U.S. troops will stretch over 12 hours Sunday, involving ceremonies, remembrances, donations and a chance to view military vehicles, all at the Capetown Plaza parking lot. To remember troops overseas, military personnel will again take one-hour shifts standing at attention on a platform that can be viewed by passersby along Route 132.
The event focuses on honoring veterans from all wars, wounded warriors and Gold and Blue Star families. The opening ceremony will be at 11:30 a.m. Sunday, with a particular focus on veterans from World War II, Korea, Iraq and Afghanistan as well as the families. At 3 p.m, there will be a Special Honor Ceremony for Vietnam Veterans as a way, organizers say, “for our community to give them the ‘Welcome Home’ they never received.�
The state Department of Public Health said in its Wednesday daily report that there are 5,278 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Massachusetts, including 152 cases on the Cape and Islands.
Mashpee Town Manager Rodney Collins said the town had experienced its largest increase that he knows of to date, while the U.S. Postal Service said it has had 80 employees in Massachusetts test positive for COVID-19 in the past 30 days.
Steve Doherty, spokesman for the USPS Atlantic Area Northeast Region, said in an email following a weekend announcement by Chatham town officials that four staff people at the North Chatham Post Office had tested positive for COVID-19. The Postal Service also received an anonymous report that members of the South Yarmouth Post Office also had fallen ill.