By Jennie Mull, Waterbury Roundabout

The sweltering weekend heat and midday sunshine didn’t deter a dedicated collection of U.S. service veterans along with friends and community members from gathering recently on the lawn at Camp Meade in Middlesex for a unique storytelling event. 

Veterans and audience members sat before the stage in plastic adirondack chairs in 90-degree heat for a Vets Town Hall, the first of its kind to be held in Middlesex and the first of a 2021 series after a break last year due to the pandemic. 

Started several years ago, the events  provide an opportunity for veterans to share personal stories of their service for community members to listen. At the June 27 town hall at Camp Meade, nearly a dozen military veterans took part, telling their stories from multiple conflicts from Vietnam to Afghanistan. 

Speakers displayed a range of emotions. Some expressed a desire for war to end, while others spoke of gratitude for their time in the military. “There’s people who are very proud, then there’s also people who are very angry,” said host Jon Turner, a U.S. Marine veteran who served from 2003-2007 and was deployed three times, twice to Iraq. The Middlesex event was the third he hosted, introducing each speaker and helping them up the stage if needed. 

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