The ceremony in Memorial Hall, also known as the Hall of Flags, was attended by dozens of veterans and their families and included the lighting of POW/MIA memorial candles, a performance of “Taps” by the Lynn English High School MCJROTC, and music. By the Commonwealth Brass Quintet of the 215th Army Band.

South Shore native Capt. C. Andrew McCawley, the ceremony’s keynote speaker, recalled how his 30 years of service in the Navy came full circle, years after he left Hingham in 1976 to attend the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis.

“I suspect most veterans like me think their length of service is pretty unimportant,” McCawley told the crowd. “Service for me began in 1976 in Annapolis, Maryland, and ended here in Massachusetts in November 2007, just yards from where I left three decades ago. “It just seemed like a blink of an eye, a very brief opportunity to be a part of something bigger than me.”

After retiring from the Navy in the early 2000s, McCawley worked in the aerospace and defense industries before landing as CEO and president of the New England Center and Home for Veterans in 2011.

“Regardless of any veteran’s rank, period of service, overseas, in the United States, or the nature of their service, military service makes a difference, and no military service member can serve without being whole,” McCawley said.

Healey was accompanied by Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll and members of the state’s Executive Office of Veterans Services.

Air Force veteran Marvin Howard, an Agawam resident and member of American Legion Post 185, was named Capt. Thomas Hudner Jr. for his work over two decades at the Massachusetts Veterans Memorial Cemetery. He received the Courage Award. He is known as “Mr. Proclamation” Howard has read proclamations at cemetery ceremonies since 2005 and has attended more than 12,000 funerals.

The Bristol County Veterans Association received the Capt. Thomas Kelley Community Engagement Award, accepted by executive director Ken Levesque. The Fall River-based nonprofit, which has four full-time employees, serves food and clothing to several hundred families each month.

Four students and drill team from Lynn English High School MCJROTC – Ghafour Diallo, Peter Akanda, Ana Niz and Marly Perez – performed a rifle taunt and march. The Lynn program has been named the Naval Honors School for 24 consecutive years, the highest honor for MCJROTC programs.

“I’m in Lynn, so I’m extra proud,” said Andrea Gayle Bennet, assistant secretary of the Executive Office of Veterans Services.

Memorial Hall, or the Hall of Flags, is located in the middle of the second floor of the State Capitol and displays the flags of returning Massachusetts regiments since the Civil War. It is traditionally the place where the state honors and commemorates its soldiers.

“All the rights and freedoms we enjoy today, young and old, stem from the service and sacrifice of our veterans, and that is why every day should be celebrated as Veterans Day to celebrate those who, generation after generation, have fought for our nation.” Healey told the crowd.

Izzy Bryars can be reached at [email protected]. follow him @izzybryars.