Honoring the nation’s heroes

World War II veteran William Tricarico, 86, smiled the smile of a man who loves being in uniform. He smiled as the East Rockaway Memorial Day parade made its way past him, looking nostalgic and proud of his country, his community and his fellow former members of the military. The smile was tinged with respect — the respect of a man who knows full well the solemn meaning of the last Monday in May. 


“I have realized that people have not forgotten what the military has gone through,” said Tricarico, who was serving in the Army in the Philippines in January 1945, ready to invade Japan, when the announcement came that President Truman had dropped the bomb on Japan. “We were ready to invade, but went in as occupying forces instead.”

He soon returned to Brooklyn, and eventually moved to East Rockaway. “There was a lapse of some sort, for years,” Tricarico recalled, “but then [Americans] started to remember again. I think the war in Iraq has stimulated people into realizing what’s going on.”

After an early-morning thunderstorm, Memorial Day turned out to be hot and sunny. The East Rockaway parade began at 10 a.m. at the VFW Hall on Main Street and made its way toward Ocean Avenue and eventually to the reviewing stand at Memorial Park on Atlantic Avenue. Village officials, veterans’ organizations, the Chamber of Commerce, members of local clubs and organizations, civic groups, school bands and scout troops were followed by members of the Fire Department and their trucks, waving to the crowd. Residents and children held up flags as the marchers went by, and many of the marchers and observers as well were decked out in red, white and blue.

“I love this day more than any other,” said Annette Taylor, a Lynbrook resident who lives on the border of East Rockaway. “I feel so proud to see everyone marching and everyone watching from the sidelines. We’re as one on this day.” Taylor clapped for a passing antique car that was carrying three veterans, and shouted “We love you!” The men waved back.