50 years ago this month, more than 5,000 citizens of Lynnfield and Peabody turned out to welcome former POW USAF Captain Lauren R. Lengyel home after he spent five and a half years in a Hanoi prison. The day included a parade and ceremony on Lynnfield Town Common. Lengyel’s remarks were brief, saying he was the “happiest and proudest man in the world.” Lengyel, his wife Margaret, and their four children, Joe, Todd, Dan and Greg, rode in an open convertible, starting at the Lynnfield-Peabody line and proceeding along Summer Street. They were greeted along the entire way by cheering spectators. A gala dinner was held later that evening at the Holiday Inn in Peabody. Lengyel was raised in Lynnfield and resided in West Peabody.
