Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq

After the attacks of September 11, 2001 the United States went to war in Afghanistan in October 2001 and invaded Iraq in March 2003. The town's veterans' office, under Kenneth L. Buffum, had taken over the Memorial Day parade in 2002, and for the parade of 2004, the day the new World War I and World War II memorial on the Town Common was dedicated, the grand marshal was "the Veterans and families of those who served or have served in Iraq and Afghanistan." Schoolchildren sent help: in 2004 the Ditson School student council gave to "the Soldiers in Iraq" and high school students organized "Operation Santa" care packages for troops serving there, pupils sent Beanie Babies to Afghanistan in a Support Our Troops campaign in 2008, and the Ditson School student council worked for the troops in Afghanistan in 2011. At the veterans' office's annual Flag Day ceremony on the Common in 2010 one of the speakers was an officer who had served in combat in Operation Iraqi Freedom and, earlier, in the Gulf War.

The returning service members brought new work to the veterans' office. From 2006 it processed "a large number of applications" under the state's Welcome Home law, which gave new benefits to members of the National Guard and the reserves and paid a bonus of $1,000 to those who had served in Iraq or Afghanistan and $500 to those who served in a non-war zone, and the office reported such applications every year into the 2020s. At the spring town meeting of 2012 a representative of the Department of Defense's committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve thanked Fire Chief Anthony E. Capaldo for his department's help to deployed firefighters and their families, and one of them presented the chief with a flag that had flown on one of his missions in Afghanistan. The last American troops left Afghanistan on August 30, 2021. By 2025 the veterans' office, now under Donald Jarvis, worked with Disabled American Veterans Chapter 147 on a Hometown Heroes program of close to forty banners along Boston Road honoring Billerica veterans, and with "both the VFWs in town."

The town reports, the town's memorial lists and the state's Iraq and Afghanistan fallen heroes memorial searched for this article do not record a Billerica resident killed in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and no square, park or memorial in Billerica is dedicated to a casualty of these wars.

People

• Kenneth L. Buffum: Veterans' Agent 1984-2019; ran the 2004 Memorial Day parade honoring Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and handled the Welcome Home bonus claims.
• Anthony E. Capaldo: Fire chief thanked at the 2012 town meeting for supporting deployed firefighters and their families; received a flag flown in Afghanistan.
• Donald Jarvis: Director of Veterans' Services from 2022, whose office ran the Hometown Heroes banner program with DAV Chapter 147.

References

1. Town report FY2004, p. 203: Veterans' Services; Memorial Day parade grand marshal the veterans and families of those who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
2. Town report FY2004, p. 208: Ditson School student council donations, including to the soldiers in Iraq.
3. Town report FY2004, p. 215: high school community involvement; 'Operation Santa' care packages to U.S. troops serving in Iraq.
4. Town report FY2006, p. 234: Veterans' Services; Welcome Home Bill bonuses of $1,000 for Iraq and Afghanistan service and $500 for non-war-zone service.
5. Town report FY2008, p. 335: Veterans' Services; Welcome Home bonus applications; Flag Day speaker Lou Cimaglia, a Desert Storm veteran.
6. Town report FY2008, p. 341: school report; Support Our Troops campaign sending Beanie Babies to Afghanistan.
7. Town report FY2010, p. 210: Veterans' Services; Flag Day speaker Major John Hodge, veteran of Desert Shield/Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
8. Town report FY2011, p. 256: Ditson School student council efforts for the troops in Afghanistan.
9. Town report FY2012, p. 94: spring town meeting; Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve thanks Fire Chief Capaldo; flag flown in Afghanistan presented.
10. Town report 2025, p. 47: Veterans' Services, Donald Jarvis; Hometown Heroes banners with DAV 147; work with both VFW posts.
11. Massachusetts Fallen Heroes, list of the 332 Massachusetts service members killed in the wars since September 11, 2001 (no Billerica resident identified).
12. Billerica Public Library, Military Memorials: the town's five war memorials; none for the Gulf, Iraq or Afghanistan wars.