By John C. O'Connell
81st annual parade and ceremonies mark Memorial Day
With a mix of thoughtful pride and warm enthusiasm, hundreds of Valley Stream residents lined the sidewalks from Wheeler Avenue to the Village Green on Monday to celebrate Memorial Day with a parade and solemn ceremonies.
Sixty-seven units marched in six divisions along the parade route beneath sunny skies in spite of a dim weekend forecast. With veterans organizations and their auxiliaries in the forefront, scouts, religious organizations, school districts, marching bands, service clubs, little leagues, the civilian patrol and police auxiliary, the chamber of commerce, elected officials, the fire department, the historical society, and other local groups joined to show the community's commitment to the nation's war dead and the veterans' sacrifices.
Grand Marshal Walter Lawlor, Past Commander of American Legion Post 854, led Valley Stream's 81st annual Memorial Day parade down Rockaway Parkway. Past Commander Jerome Hahn served as the parade chairman and VFW Commander Gregory Feist was assistant parade chairman.
The community gathered around the Veterans Memorial at Hicks Street and Valley Stream Boulevard after the parade to hear commanders of the Andrew Fatscher American Legion Post and the Veterans of Foreign Wars speak of the supreme sacrifices made by veterans of the nation's wars.
After the invocation by the Rev. Robert Howard of Grace United Methodist Church, and brief comments by Mayor Edward Cahill, American Legion Commander Richard O'Hara and VFW Commander Feist, the firing squad saluted the honored dead and the North High School Band played Taps to a silent assembly of solemn villagers.
With heads bowed, residents gathered to hear the name of every Valley Stream resident killed in war read aloud as veterans and auxilians lined up to place flowers at the Memorial.
Photos by John C. O'Connell
Valley Stream's fallen heroes
These names were read aloud during solemn ceremonies at
the Valley Stream Veterans Memorial after the 81st Annual Memorial Day parade.
Those who made the supreme sacrifice during W.W. I
William F. Schmidt
Harold Van Buskirk
Robert F. Dibble
Charles Hennig
Andrew Fatscher
Otto Fatscher
Edward V. Ruppel
George A. Dahlbender
George P. Butler
Those who made the supreme sacrifice during W.W. II
John Aitkin
Frank Balducci
Thomas P. Barnwell
Leslie M. Braren
Robert T. Bishop
George Boyne
James J. Cahill
Harold J. Carlson
Wendell P. Carolan
Fred Carroll
James F. Cashin
Donald M. Combs
Richard F. Combs
Walter G. Critchley
Henry V. Damm, Jr.
Edward T. Davidson
Dominick J. DiStasio
John F. Dolin
Frederick D. Doscher
Marvin W. Douberly
James C. Dulling
James J. Fitzpatrick
Francis P. Flynn, Jr.
Elwood P. Fosset
Harold M. Frederick
Frederick A. Gear
Charles F. Gallant
Karl E. Haglund
Joseph L. Huelster
Norman Jackson
Thomas F. Kearney
Arthur K. Kersten
John J. Knapp
George Krasa
Thomas Leanza
Maurice G. Mackey
Tiffany V. Manning
Joseph B. McConigle
John J. McLaughlin
Ernest O. Mejo
John J. Motley
Chester Murphy
George Murray
Francis J. McDermott
William j. McQueeney
William D. Nally
Howard l. Nitterhouse
Robert H. O'Loughlin
Edward P. Pearsall
Karle Prinz
Robert G. Pupke
George M. Reardon
Ernest S. Reckmann
Jacob M. Reisert
Frank C. Robertson
Maynard J. Rogg
Owne H. Salvage
John M. Savery
John Schaefer
Ralph L. Schumann
Raymond T. Slezak
Carl S. Uhlyk
C. Maxwell Wellman
Walter Wittendorf
Joseph J. Wujcik
John P. Zelvis
Those who made the supreme sacrifice during the Korean War
Michael W. Dill, Jr.
Thomas Shields
Donald Spence
Eugene F. Voss
Edward C. Wahlgren
Robert Whitney
Those who made the supreme sacrifice during the Vietnam War
Michael J. Abruzzesa
Herbert Dilger
Richard E. Gideon
Andrew Giordano
Albert F. Lupole, Jr.
William J. Montague
Richard Nelson
Vincent Olley
Angelo Petraglia
William F. Reichert
Timothy C. Reitmann
Michael C. Saporito
John Walsh
And all those who gave their lives for their country.
