Top US military officer attends Gold Star monument dedication in Fall River

Sean Smyth | Boston Globe

The top officer in the US military was in Massachusetts on Sunday to dedicate a park in honor of Gold Star families, whose loved ones have died while in the military.

Marine General Joseph F. Dunford Jr., the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, attended the event officially unveiling the state’s Gold Star Families Memorial in Fall River. Dunford is a South Boston native who grew up in Quincy.

Dunford also visited a playground in nearby New Bedford named after Marine Lance Corporal Matthew R. Rodriguez of Fairhaven, who was killed in December 2013 in Afghanistan.