By Nick Buglione
While he knows for sure the B-24 bomber his friend flew in went down somewhere over Germany around 1944, the fate of 18-year-old Charlie and his fellow crew members remains a mystery.
"His mother and father never got any of his remains back. It was tough for the whole neighborhood," said Pellegrino, past commander of East Meadow Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2736 and a Korean War veteran. "We were very close. We played football together, we played golf together, we used to caddie together."
The circumstances surrounding his friend's death still eats at Pellegrino, which is why he's spent the last year making sure East Meadow will bear some reminder of Charlie and all the nation's servicemen and women who were missing in action or prisoners of war.
In a short, solemn ceremony on an overcast morning last Friday, about 40 East Meadow veterans and a host of elected officials gathered at the grassy square at Prospect and Roosevelt avenues to unveil a stone monument in honor of those left behind.
"In memory of POW-MIAs, all that served in the Armed Forces and those who lost their lives on Sept. 11, 2001. VFW Post 2736," read the inscription.
Pellegrino thought it was only appropriate to include the Sept. 11 terrorist attack victims, as a large number were only listed dead when recovery efforts ended and they were still missing.
"It's with great pride and honor that I'm here today to commemorate this memorial to our prisoners of war and missing in action," said Sam DiPalo, commander of VFW Post 2736. "This is so we don't forget what these brave people did for our nation."
Those that spoke during the ceremony, held some two weeks shy of Memorial Day, offered kind words in memory of the nation's most recent fallen -- those who lost their lives in the war with Iraq.
"There are many who are returning, there are some waiting to return," said Nassau County Legislator Norma Gonsalves (R-East Meadow), "but there are some who'll never return."
The monument was obtained through a grant from state Sen. Kemp Hannon (R-Garden City) and placed in a square that's recently been beautified through the efforts of the East Meadow Chamber of Commerce and the Girl Scouts. The stone memorial now sits under a pole flying the American flag and the distinct, dark black POW-MIA banner.
"It's important in the community that there is a memorial to let people know that we never forget, ever," Hannon said.
