Hampden Memorial Day service

HAMPDEN, Mass. (WWLP) - Hampden residents paid their respects to their war dead in the shadow of the town's World War One Memorial.

Following their traditional Memorial Day parade, people gathered in front of the imposing landmark on the town green. They showed their reverence in memory of soldiers who had grown up in Hampden, only to die on foreign battlefields.

Hampden resident Dave Lalonde told 22News that "you've got to learn from the past. And you've got to appreciate the past. The things that actually happened, and what people really did."

The Memorial Day tradition included the Hampden Volunteer Fire Department hosting a town wide hot dog social.

And it appeared that just about the whole town turned out to accept the fire department's heartfelt hospitality.