The Williston Park American Legion Post 144 conducted its annual Everlasting Services ceremony on Memorial Day for deceased veterans of the village, and by late morning fair weather favored the Mineola and Albertson Memorial Day parades.
Early morning rain added to the somber feeling of the day as members of American Legion Post 144 gathered for the Everlasting Service, a ceremony that recalls each of the 21 servicemen from the village who have died in foreign wars. American Legion Commander Frank Oliveri presided over the ceremony, striking a small
brass bell that resonated clearly through the Post 144 meeting room as the other veterans, members of the ladies auxiliary, honored guests and residents silently looked on.
“Because of them, our lives are free. Because of them, our lives are blessed,” Oliveri said, before reading the names. “May their souls rest in peace. Amen,” he concluded at the end of the ceremony.
State Sen. Jack Martins (R-Mineola), guest speaker at the observance, reminded those in attendance that all veterans all had given some portion of themselves in service to their country.
“Some gave the ultimate sacrifice, but all of them sacrificed,” Martins said, adding, “We’re called upon as country to sacrifice. It’s all too easy to foprget that we ahve half a million members of our families half a world away.”
Veteran Marvin Goodman sang “My Buddy” in a poignant moment when other veterans were likely think about their buddies who had never made it back.
In her benediction, Rev. Christine Van Liew of the Episcopal Church of the Resurrection, offered a prayer for the fallen, and a prayer for the families of those who died in service to their county.
“Give them confidence that the losses had a purpose,” Van Liew said.
Near the conclusion of the ceremonies, Williston Park Trustee Kevin Rynne presented a $4,400 check to Post 144 from the Williston Park Little League.
“Today, we don’t clebrate. We remember the lives of those who have sacrificed,” said Williston Park Mayor Paul Ehrbar. “Remember to say a short prayer for those who have fallen and for our country.”
Williston Park resident Rita Hesse said she was thinking about her husband Bob, and the time he served during the Korean War. Bob Hesse said he was thinking about Pete Holowecki, a former commander of the Williston Park post.
Outside the threatening skies were clearing as the members of Albertson VFW Post 5253, the Albertson Fire Department, their band and an impressive array of new and vintage vehicles were just starting to move north on Willis Avenue toward their endpoint at the Willets Road fire department headquarters.
The Chaminade High School Band provided some rousing martial music as the leading unit in the Mineola parade, sponsored by American Legion Post 144 and VFW Post 1305, with members of the Mineola Fire Department, members of the junior fire department and Boy Scout Troop 245 and Cub Scout Pack 246 also in the parade.
Members of the Mineola Portuguese Club of Mineola provided a colorful contingent of dancers and musicians for the occasion. The Irish American Society was also well represented.
Rabbi Anchelli Pearl of Temple Beth Sholom opened the observance with a prayer for a time “when nation should not lift up sword against nation and we will not make war anymore.”
He offered a personal note of thanks for the U.S. servicemen who saved his father from a concentration camp.
“So many years later, I’m here to say thank you to the veterans who liberated my father from Buchenwald,” Pearl said.
D-Day veteran and former deputy mayor John DaVanzo said the fallen veterans should remember each day of our live.
“I think every day should be Memorial Day, It’ll be 67 years on June 8 that my ship was sunk underneath me after D-Day,” DaVanzo said.
The destroyer he was was stationed on off the Normandy beach was torpedoed. DaVanzo, who had just reported on deck for his duty shift as radio man, was among the survivors.
Mineola American Legion Commander Sal Cataldo, spoke in remembrance of Prisoners of War in Vietnam and offered particular thanks to World War II veteran Joseph DiGiorgio for his efforts in helping to create the Mineola Volunteer Ambulance Corps, which was also represented in the parade.
Cataldo also thanked the parade sponsors, including the Mineola Portuguese Society, the Mineola Chamber of Commerce, the Mineola Fire Department and the Irish Society, who donated enough flower wreaths for the legion post to realize its goal of 20 Memorial Day wreaths.
Doing double duty, former Mineola mayor Martins commented on the importance of the occasion which is sometimes lost during other weekend activities, and suggested everyone present make a point of thanking a veteran for his or her service today.
“We should never forget what some of us have,” said Manny Grilo, a Vietnam veteran who is commander of the Mineola Veterans of Foregn Wars Post 1305.
He recalled that America sustained 58,000 deaths in the Vietnam War and 600,000 in the Civil War, which originally inspired Memorial Day in 1868 .
“The blood of heroes never dies and it never fades. We will continue to honor their sacrifice,” Mineola Mayor Scott Strauss said. “Rest in peace soldiers, rest in peace. You are not forgotten and you did not die in vain.”
Strauss led all those assembled in singing “God Bless America” as the observance concluded.
