WORCESTER—For 265 Worcester service members who died during World War II, their names are missing from the city’s memorial—excluded under a technical definition of “killed in action.”
City officials say it may be a matter of classification. Families call it an oversight that should have been corrected years ago.
Now, the Worcester City Council has unanimously approved a request from Councilor-at-Large Morris “Moe” Bergman asking the city manager to work with the Veterans’ Services Office to create a monument or plaque recognizing those veterans who are not currently honored.
The 265 service members died during the war but were excluded from the existing memorial because they did not meet the criteria for “killed in action.”
“This is an item that’s near and dear to me,” Bergman said, noting the issue has appeared before the council in various forms over the past several years.
Under military classification standards, a service member is generally recognized as killed in action if death occurs in combat or within a set period following combat-related injuries.
Bergman said Worcester’s memorial originally required death within 30 days of injuries, a timeframe later expanded to 90 days to align with federal standards used in Washington, D.C.
“So we have many service people from Worcester who don’t get the recognition, although they gave the ultimate sacrifice because of what I could argue can be, can be, not always is, but can be a technicality,” Bergman said.
He said he is not proposing a specific format for recognition, suggesting it could be an addition to the existing World War II monument or a separate memorial at Green Hill Park.
“Sometimes the simplest recognitions are the most impactful and powerful,” Bergman said. “We’re losing that World War II generation every day.”
Earlier in the meeting, Grafton resident Bob Bazinet urged the council to move the effort forward, calling the repeated delays frustrating.
“Worcester sent 24,000 soldiers off to war; 783 of them died,” he said, citing past correspondence from the city. “The letter stated that there were 265 deceased soldiers that did not meet the criteria to have their names on that monument. What do you mean they didn’t meet the criteria? They died while in service to their country, and their parents, siblings and family never saw them again.”
Bazinet said his uncle, U.S. Army Pfc. Bernard Roland Bazinet, is among those not recognized.
Bernard Bazinet was 24 years old and stationed in Sissonne, France, roughly two months after Germany’s surrender, when he was killed on July 28, 1945, after a fellow soldier’s gun accidentally discharged. He was scheduled to return home to Worcester shortly afterward. He is buried at the Epinal American Cemetery in France.
Because of the circumstances of his death, the military classified him as “DNB” — “died non-battle” — a casualty code that places him outside the criteria used for Worcester’s World War II memorial. Other military casualty classifications include KIA (“killed in action”), DOW (“died of wounds”), FOD (“finding of death”) and DOI (“died of injuries”).
Bazinet described his uncle as “a great hockey player” and one of four brothers who served, with only three returning home.
After years of effort, Bazinet succeeded in having a memorial marker installed at the corner of Grafton Street and Warner Avenue, now known as Bazinet Square. But he said the broader issue remains unresolved for hundreds of other Worcester service members whose deaths were classified as non-battle.
“My wife and I have been presenting this project at the council for almost four years,” Bazinet said. “Every time we have spoken to the city council, the item has been adopted unanimously. It has been very frustrating over the past several years to have to return to speak to the city council again, but there is never any movement on this issue.”
He described what he called a “disconnect between what happens at the city council and the advancement of this memorial.”
Bergman said he hopes the current council can deliver “a tangible result.”
The request was approved unanimously and referred to the city manager for review and action.
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