Hundreds crowded the streets of Great Neck Monday to pay tribute to those servicemen and women who gave their lives to protect our country.
As the Memorial Day parade made its way down Middle Neck road for the 87th time, children and adults waved flags and saluted all those participating. All eventually gathered at Village Green Park for the ceremony.
Parade committee chairman James E. Barton introduced this years grand marshal, Korean War veteran and Holocaust survivor Ivar R. Segalowitz.
“He has been a loving member of Great Neck for 45 years,” Barton said. “And continues to show his dedication to his community through his service as a commissioner of the Great Neck Park District for the past eight years.”
“I am really humbled by this whole experience,” Segalowitz said. “I value this community for having chosen me as its grand marshal.”
Before emigrating to the U.S. and enlisting, Segalowitz was liberated from captivity in Eastern Europe after being imprisoned in Dachau, Auschwitz, and Buchenwald, by General Patton’s Army.
“As a child survivor of the Holocaust I believe in commemorating the soldiers who served and died liberating me,” he said. “I am honored to be chosen to lead this great parade.”
In addition to the soldiers Segalowitz was freed by and the ones he served with, he honored those serving oversees today.
“With ongoing wars in the Middle East we must commemorate those soldiers that have given their lives so that others can have their freedom,” he said.
After the ceremony concluded at Village Green Park, the veterans and fire company detachments marched to All Saints Cemetery to decorate and salute in honor of the graves of veterans.
