Pawling American Legion hosts Memorial Day Parade & Ceremonies
By John M. Benson
May 28, 2007
American Legion Hasler-Kamp Post 215 hosted the traditional Memorial Day Parade & Ceremonies for the Pawling community on Monday, May 28, in the center of the Village of Pawling and at the Veterans Cemetery.
Legion Post Commander John Claudet and the members of Post 215 organized a moving tribute to the men and women who have lost their lives in wartime, from Pawling and from all over the United States of America.
Gerry Christiansen will be installed as Commander next week, and the officers will remain in place: Adjtutant Mike Farrell, Vice Commander John Thomes, First Vice Commander Ed Coombs, Sgt. At Arms Lou Musella, Chaplain Lou Grogan.
The parade through the village featured the Legionnaires and the color guard, myriad Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts of all ages, teams from Pawling Little League, and dignitaries such as Supervisor Beth Coursen, Mayor Rob Liffland, Town Councilman Mike Montemarano, Village Trustees Tracy Durkin, Allen Rundall and Robert Murphy, and Bob Ball on behalf of his son, Assemblyman Greg Ball.
Betty Gallagher gave the stirring rendition of The National Anthem that the audience has enjoyed for years.
Legionnaire John Thomes served as Master of Ceremonies, as he has done for many years. As has been the tradition, Thomes gave the keynote message on the meaning of Memorial Day.
Two great friends and members of the Pawling community have departed this life in the last week, Thomes said, remembering Thelma Cavaleri and Richard J. Ryan. Thelma Cavaleri was a member of the American Legion Auxiliary, a lifetime supporter of the American Legion and the Girl Scouts, and a local historian to whom laymen and municipal historians turned for the accurate information and meaning of Pawling history. Richard Ryan was remembered by Thomes as Commander and important and loyal member of the local American Legion Hasler-Kamp Post 215. Thomes said they were both close personal friends of his, and said they will be both be sorely missed by the Pawling community.
The Hasler-Kamp Post 215 has adopted an active military platoon, Thomes said, and the post will welcome public support for this undertaking. Anyone who would like to contribute can contact John Thomes at 855-3550.
The Invocation was given by Father John J. Duff of Saint John’s Roman Catholic Church.
The Benedictions in the village center and at the cemetery were given by Pastor John Ellingworth of the Lutheran Church of Christ the King.
The Ceremony of the Poppies
The young Daisy Scouts, Brownies and Cub Scouts, as always, acted out the moving symbolism of American Legion symbol, the Poppy. Sergeant At Arms Lou Musella escorts one youngster at a time to the tripod of rifles between the monuments, and the young Scout places a poppy in the inverted helmet that hangs from the top of the tripod. The Legion adopted the Poppy as its symbol based on the famous poem written during World War One by an inspired poet whose name is unknown:
In Flanders Fields
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
The message delivered by Thomes is new and thoughtful each year, reflecting the circumstances in the world in the given year. The following were his comments for this 2007 observance of Memorial Day:
Memorial Day
Two years ago, on the Fourth of July, I made the mistake of rising early and running the eight mile race around Lake Mahopac. I came home and helped a nice lady make funeral arrangements for her husband who had passed away that morning. As she was leaving the funeral home, a man came up the front walk. He introduced himself and said he was looking for his old Navy buddy… Ken Woodin. I asked him what time period he was in the Navy and he told me 1965- 1969. I immediately said, “Do you mean Mickey Woodin?” He acknowledged that he hadn’t seen Mick since the day he was discharged. They went to boot camp on the same day, they went to Vietnam together, and they were discharged on the same day. I remembered that I had heard that Mickey was residing in Patterson over a landmark called, “One-Bucks.” I rode down to Patterson with Mickey’s friend. I had gone to school with Mickey and together we talked about Mickey’s life. I believe the old Navy buddy’s name was “Uncle Bob” and he told me a story of how Mickey, in Vietnam, had swam out into the South China Sea and all by himself had saved three sailors that had gotten caught in the treacherous undertow. Due to the efforts of a Construction Batalion Sailor from Pawling, NY, three Americans did not end up on the Vietnam Wall in Washington, DC. These are the stories you don’t hear about on CNN and Mickey, I for one will always be proud that I grew up with you.
We have three great days that celebrate our nation… Memorial Day, a day to remember our heroes who died in service to our country… The Fourth of July, a day we recognize as the birthday of our country… and Veteran’s Day, November 11th, is remembered as the day that the peace treaty was signed in Europe ending WWI.
WWW I was named by President Woodrow Wilson as the War to End All Wars. President Wilson had great dreams, but as we know the 20th Century was a century rocked by some of the most fierce and cruel and savage displays of mans inhumanity that the world has ever seen.
Today, we are once again faced with another cruel war. The sacrifice is sometimes beyond comprehension. The death toll is mounting. But as we stand here today, and honor the sons of Pawling who gave their lives so that we could have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, I remember the people of my father’s generation who often talked about how we should have stopped Hitler in the very beginning à before the Third Reich gained momentum, before the genocide, and the Holocaust.
We need to go forward from here to show our troops in the Middle East that as a nation we support them 100%. We need to remember that the freedom that we have to question authority and to question the war was paid for by the blood of the youth of America. Some of their names appear on the monument behind me and some of them are buried in the American Legion plot and we will honor them today.
For those of you, who are still listening to my humble words, please remember the many things you can do to support our personnel in uniform…
- Pray for them everyday
- Support the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund
- Take your old magazines, after removing the address labels, to the Pawling Post Office and give them to Mike Clark and Lois. Just remember, Lois and Clark will send your magazines to our troops
- Again, as I said last year, young people of Pawling – try to discover a way we can cut down on our consumption and dependence on foreign oil
Hasler-Kamp Chaplain Lou Grogan, as he has done every year that this reporter has had the pleasure to attend these ceremonies, delivered the spiritual message for the local Legionnaires:
In one era, this day was known as Decoration Day, when families literally decorated the graves of their loved ones with flowers, wreaths, and the American Flag. Hence, the name Decoration Day.
Today, it is known as Memorial Day as we know.
Just what is Memorial Day? It is the annual time that the United States of America pauses to momentarily from its cares and duties to salute and remember those who made the supreme sacrifice by giving their lives so that our lives and way of life may continue both uninterrupted and unchallenged.
In New York City’s Yankee Stadium, every Yankee is preceded by the announcer requesting everyone to stand, as Kate Smith’s recording of “God Bless America” is played, and sung by those in attendance. The words are simultaneously displayed on the gigantic scoreboard n center field, so that all may join in. The song contains a beautiful description of our country, as you will note.
Those words are:
God Bless America,
Land that I love
Stand beside her, and guide her
With the light that shines from above
From the mountains, to the prairies
To the oceans, white with foam
God Bless America
My home, sweet home.
God Bless America,
My home, sweet home!
The crowd at Yankee Stadium cheers wildly, understandably, and soon afterward the baseball game at Yankee Stadium is underway.
Thank you, everyone. The Legion sincerely hopes you all enjoy your Memorial Day!
Greg Ball, who grew up in Pawling and is now the State Assemblyman from Pawling’s district, sent a Memorial Day message to the community that was read aloud by his father, Bob Ball:
As a Cadet at the United States Air Force Academy, and as part of the intense fourth class plebe system, I had to memorize hundreds and hundreds of pages of military knowledge. One quote however, amongst the hundreds if not thousands we had to memorize, truly stands out.
General Norman Schwartzkopf once said, “All you have to do is hold your first dying soldier in your arms, and have that terribly futile feeling that his life is flowing out and you can't do anything about it. Then you understand the horror of war. Any soldier worth his salt should be antiwar. And still, there are things worth fighting for.”
As we stand here today, honoring the memory of those who have given their life as the ultimate sacrifice and saluting those, some of them standing with us today, who have worn proudly the uniform of their nation as part of an effort beyond individual gain, we stand as a blessed people and a strong nation.
Indeed, being an American is a great honor. The parents who took the time today to bring your children, THANK YOU. And to the young men and women here today, and to everyone who has gathered here today, I ask that you take a moment to not only remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice, but please take a moment to spend a little extra time after the ceremony and meet and THANK our veterans standing here today.
These men and women fought and served for you. They sacrificed for you. They believed in something greater than themselves, and they were willing to die for you.
Some gave all, all gave some.
Today, we embrace and cherish their service. To the brave and selfless veterans who stand with us today, here, at this ceremony. THANK YOU.
You wore our nation’s uniform, you embody the concept of service before self, and you wore that uniform so all of our families could live in peace and in happiness. You were willing to fight and die for all of us. THANK YOU
To everyone else, let us all remember, that being an American is a great honor; but it also comes with a huge responsibility. A responsibility that can never be forgotten.
Robert Kennedy once said, "Since the days of Greece and Rome when the word 'citizen' was a title of honor, we have often seen more emphasis put on the rights of citizenship than on its responsibilities. And today, as never before in the free world, responsibility is the greatest right of citizenship and service is the greatest of freedom's privileges."
Unlike what we may read in the New York Times or hear on CNN, we are NOT citizens of the globe. We are citizens of the greatest nation the world has ever known. And while our nation is experiencing a challenging period, we have certainly been through tougher, more challenging times. And together, united in the same spirit that motivated these veterans, standing with us today, we will once again prevail.
In closing, let us all remember today that in a democracy, our service to others, and our loyalty and service to our country, is the price we pay for this honor we call freedom.
Whether that service be to our community, our family or our nation;
Whether it be in the Peace Corps or the U.S. Marine Corps,
Whether the US Army or the Salvation Army,
….the key is to remember that being an American is not solely about taking one dollar and turning it into two. It's much more than that. Being an American is inherently about service to others, service to this great nation.
And if I may be so bold to offer a suggestion, let us all pledge today to dedicate ourselves to what the Greeks wrote so many years ago:
"to tame the savageness of man and make gentle…and better….the life of the world."
Allen Rundall read aloud a poem written about the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, written by William J. Eckardt to be sung to the melody of The Battle Hymn of the Republic:
It was early in the morning of a clear September day
We were off to work and off to school and children were at play
Then the terror struck us from above the purpose was to slay
Three thousand died that day
They hit the north and then the south the towers were aflame
We heard the screams of terror and we heard the screams of pain
As one by one the towers fell mankind was put to shame
Three thousand died that day
They crashed into the pentagon in Washington, D.C.
More blood was shed more lives were lost for all the world to see
The carnage of that was meant to wound humanity
Three thousand died that day
And then there we the heroes of United Flight ninety-three
The passengers who gave their lives to fight for liberty
They would never see tomorrow but they fought for you and me
God Bless the USA
Chorus:
We must remember nine eleven
We can’t forget the devastation
The death of innocent civilians
The debt will be repaid, God bless the USA
(Copyright 2004, William J. Eckardt)
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