In May 2021, World War Two U.S. Army Veteran Elmer T. Graffam sent a letter of greetings to Archangel Veterans of the Great Patriotic War to help commemorate Victory Day 76 on May 9th.
Sergeant Graffam currently lives in Westbrook Maine and recently celebrated his 100th Birthday. Serving in the 243rd Field Artillery Battalion, he landed in Normandy in August 1944 and his unit steadily advanced eastward deep into Germany by the end of the War in April 1945.
The Archangel City Administration, led by Mayor Dimitri Morev and City Councilor Dimitri Akishev, honored Sergeant Graffam by publicizing his letter and by placing flowers in his memory at Archangel's Eternal Flame on May 9, 2021.
In addition, Mayor Morev sent a congratulatory letter to Sergeant Graffam and Councilor Akishev and his spouse Svetlana wrote and published a beautiful book about the War and the Commemorations. This full-color book contains Sergeant Graffam's letter (in English and in Russian) as well as photographs of the May 9th Ceremony at the Eternal Flame.
A copy of this book was mailed to our Committee with a handwritten inscription to Sergeant Graffam by Councilor Akishev. On August 14, 2021, Committee Vice Co-Chair Dennis Marrotte personally delivered the book to Sergeant Graffam at his Westbrook home.
Left-to-right: Dennis Marrotte, Sergeant Graffam, and his daughter Christine Dileo. (photo by Charles Wiedmann.)
