Manchester native Dan Beliveau honored for his mission to serve and honor vets

Jul. 19—MANCHESTER — Dan Beliveau, a Manchester native who spent 24 years in the U.S. Army and New Hampshire National Guard, has a mission to be of service to veterans of every era, branch and stripe.

On Friday, Beliveau, 68, received the 2023 McQuillen award from the New Hampshire Union Leader for his volunteer service to veterans — from firing a rifle in an honor guard salute at veterans funerals to organizing Manchester's Veterans Day parade for 12 years to making his to-die-for American chop suey to serve at veteran cookouts and Scouting awards ceremonies.

He lives his code — others before self — and hopes to inspire others to carry forward.

"It's nice to be recognized for the work that I'm doing," Beliveau said before the award presentation at the Millyard Museum. "It's like when we present an Eagle Scout badge. It isn't the end, it's the beginning."

Beliveau, a past head of Manchester's Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion Sweeney Post 2, has served as district leader of 14 Legion posts in the Hillsborough County area for three years.

One of his current projects is a carved stone memorial for Gulf War vets, depicting operations including Desert Storm, to be unveiled in Manchester's Veterans Park on Memorial Day next year.

Mike Lopez of Manchester, a former Army master sergeant and combat photographer in Vietnam, nominated Beliveau for the award, which for 35 years has honored a veteran who makes a standout contribution to veterans' lives and causes.

"Dan is a dedicated, quiet person who does the work and doesn't ask for anything in return for it," Lopez said. "Everyone sees a parade coming down the street, but nobody knows the work that went into it." Beliveau's support for veterans' activities "brings the comradeship of veterans alive," Lopez said.

The McQuillen Award is named for Maurice McQuillen, a decorated World War II tank corps soldier who edited the veterans page of the New Hampshire Union Leader and Sunday News from 1952 until 1989, when he died.

Beliveau "is a veteran's veteran," said Maureen McQuillen, Maurice McQuillen's daughter, in presenting the award at the Millyard Museum in Manchester.

"He's the type of person who personified how the award should be bestowed," she said, one of the "unsung heroes who lift veterans up and make sure their service doesn't go unrecognized."

Beliveau's service history includes tough jobs and hotspots.

"I grew up right after the Korean War. My dad had been a Marine," he said. "Because of the stuff I learned in Boy Scouts" — how to read maps, camp in the woods, be a leader and a team player — "I knew more about the outdoors."

He joined the Army after ROTC in college. "It was a fit," he said.

He became an Infantry 2 leader of "the guys who walk on the ground and carry rifles," then joined the Special Forces and was stationed in Georgia and Kentucky before serving in Kenya in 1988 and Operation Desert Storm in 1990-1991.

"My priority was taking care of my soldiers and making sure they had what they needed to be motivated to accomplish our missions. I learned there's something greater than yourself. It's more important than individual needs or desires," Beliveau said.

After Desert Storm, Beliveau returned to Manchester and joined the New Hampshire National Guard as a sergeant. He deployed to Iraq from 2004-2005, to Afghanistan 2007-2008 as a military adviser, and back to Iraq in 2010 on a combat escort mission.

He joined the American Legion in 1995, and since 1999 has volunteered in the honor guard at veterans funerals, "firing guns before Taps are played."

Beliveau has continued the tradition of erecting plaques around the city, numbering 27 so far, honoring service members who died in combat.

"Never have I ever imagined that I would get such an award," Beliveau said Friday at the ceremony. "We owe an enormous debt of gratitude for our vets. Each one has pledged their lives to defend this country. They all have missed countless holidays, birthdays and anniversaries" in this mission.

Paraphrasing a quote from Abraham Lincoln, he said, "'The nations who forget to remember their heroes will soon be forgotten.' If we don't continue this, we're not going to be in a place where we'll be able to recruit for military service. We want the younger generation to realize we're not forgetting the veterans."

For more than three decades, the McQuillen awards have been "a great opportunity to honor the people who don't often get recognized because they're doing the hard work in the background," said Brendan J. McQuaid, president and publisher of the New Hampshire Union Leader.

"When all the soldiers come back from war, we try to find a sense of purpose in the civilian world," said Thomas Clough, commander of Manchester's American Legion and VFW posts.

Helping fellow veterans "gives us purpose," he said. "There's nothing greater than that."