Veterans Day Observance is set for Monday

The ceremony will be held at 11 a.m. at Veterans Park, followed by a Rolling Rally

By Mark E. Vogler

Saugus will celebrate the contributions of its local veterans – living and departed – at the town’s annual Veterans Day observance set for 11 a.m. Monday (Nov. 11) at Veterans Park, at the corner of Winter and Central Streets. Captain Douglas Peterson, the Orthopedic Surgery Specialty Leader for the U.S. Navy Reserves, will be the keynote speaker, according to Saugus Veterans Council Commander Steve Castinetti.

“At the conclusion of the ceremony, there will be a Rolling Rally – featuring vintage cars, trucks and motorcycles,” Castinetti said.

“The procession will drive by Veterans Park and will continue onto Saugus Center. Guy Moley is organizing the rally,” he said.

Castinetti, the master of ceremonies at most patriotic events in Saugus, is recuperating from recent injuries he received and will not be able to attend the event.

CCM Robert O’Toole, retired U.S. Air Force and the executive officer of the Saugus Veterans Council, will oversee this year’s event.

Capt. Peterson, a Beverly native, graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in Health Education and Pre-Medical Studies from the University of Massachusetts Lowell in 1991 and received his Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine from the University of New England in 1995. He received the U.S. Army HPSP scholarship for medical school and completed a traditional internship at Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1996. He then served as Brigade Surgeon, 3rd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division (Light) at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, from 1996-1999. He completed an orthopedic surgery residency at Ohio University / Grandview Hospital and Medical Center in 2003 under the U.S. Navy Financial Assistance Program (FAP).

Peterson attended the Naval Aeromedical Institute and received his flight surgeon wings in 2004 while as an attending orthopedic surgeon at Naval Hospital Pensacola. In 2004, he transferred to U.S. Naval Hospital Yokosuka in Japan and served for two years as a staff orthopedic surgeon. He served aboard the USNS Mercy for a humanitarian mission for tsunami relief in Indonesia.

Peterson transferred to Naval Health Clinic New England (NHCNE) in Newport, R.I., in 2006. He was granted a full-time out-service scholarship for a sports medicine and shoulder fellowship at Harvard / MGH. Following his fellowship, he returned to NHCNE as an orthopedic surgeon and team physician for Naval Academy Preparatory School.

Peterson deployed to Afghanistan as the orthopedic surgeon on a forward surgical team providing Role 2 combat surgical care to Helmand Province, Afghanistan, in 2009. He earned his Fleet Marine Force warfare device while deployed with the Marines.

Peterson left active duty in 2010 and is currently in private practice on the North Shore of Boston. He is a member of the U.S. Navy Reserves with OHSU Pensacola and drills at NOSC Newport.