New Bedford to Host Traveling Veterans Memorial This Weekend

NEW BEDFORD (WBSM) — It will be a special weekend in New Bedford with the opportunity to honor veterans through the traveling veterans memorial coming to a hangar at the New Bedford Regional Airport.

Patriotic Productions' Traveling Memorial originated in Nebraska and will be coming to New Bedford, allowing SouthCoast residents to visit and pay tribute to those who have fallen in war.

One mother, Lisa Rodrigues from Fairhaven, is the driving force behind this weekend's memorial. Her son Matthew was in the Marine Corps and in 2012 was killed in action while serving in Afghanistan as part of Operation Freedom.

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In keeping his memory alive, as well as other veterans who sacrificed their lives, she reached out to the organization. To her surprise, they agreed to travel down to New Bedford, not just for one day, but for three.

Over the past few days, the overflow of community support poured in to help make this memorial happen in the city. Donations from local businesses, police, and firefighter unions even helped cover additional costs.

"This has come together very quickly," Rodrigues told WBSM's Chris McCarthy on SouthCoast Now.

"It was a couple weeks ago that I emailed the Patriotic Productions to see if they would come to the New Bedford-Fairhaven area. I got a call from them the next morning, and we started in motion, and we were good to go," she said.

The Remembering Our Fallen Traveling War Memorial will be at the New Bedford airport hangar at 1447 Airport Road for three days.

Visitors can honor Lance Corporal Matthew Rodrigues on the 10th anniversary of his death this Monday and others who have fallen from the war on terror.

It will be opened to the public on:

Sunday, December 10 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Monday, December 11 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Tuesday, December 12 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

A special memorial ceremony honoring Matthew is scheduled for Monday, December 11 at 3 p.m.

With the LCpl Matthew R. Rodrigues Memorial Foundation, the Rodrigues family said they are just trying to do some good things in Matt's name and keep his memory alive. Local veterans, military families and other local organizations all benefit from the efforts of the foundation.

Donations are also accepted at the memorial this weekend and will go towards the organization Patriotic Productions.