By JUDY RATTNER
Sponsored and organized by American Legion Post 303 and the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the annual Memorial Day parade and service started at 10 a.m., passing St. Agnes Cathedral and Village Hall, proceeding down Maple Avenue, and across Long Beach Road to Veteran's Park in front of the John A. Anderson Recreation Center on Oceanside Road, for a ceremony and the laying of the wreaths.
Marchers included representatives from Rockville Centre's Police Benevolent Association, Fire Department, Little League, soccer and lacrosse clubs, the Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, Girl Scouts, Brownies, Chamber of Commerce and library. The South Side Middle School Band, under the direction of Todd Shusterman, and vocalist Kristin Scafuri, accompanied by guitarist Tom Interligi on guitar, provided music for the ceremony.
Parade Grand Marshal Leonard Sandel, long-time village resident and former mayor of Rockville Centre, who is a World War II veteran, was unable to attend because of recent health issues, so Mayor Gene Murray, also a veteran of World War II, stepped in to deliver the Memorial Day remarks. He thanked all for attending and reminded us to remember those Americans, more than one million of them, who have given their lives out of devotion to duty and to our country.
"We should remember them every day," Murray said, "and on Memorial Day we honor them with special gratitude." He also reminded us of the courage, devotion and sacrifice of Lieutenant Ronald Winchester, the first Rockville Centre resident to lose his life in the Iraq War, three Septembers ago.
Murray called upon the crowd to think of all those who are currently in harm's way, fighting in far-off lands. And he asked us all to consider those who have come back from war alive, but damaged. Murray said it is our responsibility to support the health and well-being of veterans with the medical care they need.
At the conclusion of his remarks, after a rifle salute, wreaths were laid at four monuments inscribed with names honoring Rockville Centre's war dead from World War I, World War II, the Korean and Vietnam Wars, 105 in all. A special memorial dedicated in 2001 to the Chosin Few who fought a bloody and decisive battle against Chinese troops high in the mountains of North Korea also received tribute. Members of the American Legion Post 303 and the Ladies Auxiliary, the Rockville Centre Police Benevolent Association, fire department, board of trustees, Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 103, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Disabled Army Veterans Chapter 145 and the Chosin Few laid the wreaths.
Photos by Tim Baker/Herald
