Retiring the flags on Memorial Bridge
PUTNAM — You know winter is not too far off when Alan Joslin and his comrades from the local American Legion Post #13 team up with the Town of Putnam to take down the flags on the Memorial Bridge on Rt. 44. 
The flags were posted back in early May and they were retired on Nov 12. Jim Callahan and “Jimbo” Crabtree from the Town of Putnam had a bucket truck to assist. The tasks involved removing 16 flags and heavy steel flag poles (about 10 feet long) from their cast iron holsters, rolling up the flags, and placing them in a truck for transport to a local storage facility. It usually takes about 30-45 minutes to do the job.
Post #13 members who volunteered included Joslin, Dave Gilbert, Garry Brown, Larry Christy, Victor Kratz, Frank Tremont, and Michael Rocchetti. Joslin said: “We usually replace each flag once every two years. The contant exposure to the ultraviolet rays from the sun causes the colors to fade. The flags are purchased by the American Legion, and we usually spend about $650 dollars a year on new flags”.
The Memorial Bridge is a great source of pride for Putnam’s veterans. It was built in 1938 and restored in 2015. In addition to the flags, each side of the bridge has three bronze plaques honoring Putnam’s WWI veterans. The arched bridge is very ornate. Each concrete siding is acentuated with a couple of concrete pediments topped off with an obelisk bearing a street lamp. At the center are three raised concrete tablets bearing the bronze plaques. The center tablet is topped off with a cast concrete eyebrow. The bridge was damaged during the Flood of 1955.

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