City of Middletown and Town of Wallkill residents honored fallen soldiers at a Memorial Day service at Middletown Elks Lodge on May 27.
It was the first post-pandemic service by the Middletown Wallkill Veterans Council, which, since its founding in 1963, had hosted a combined Memorial Day ceremony between the two municipalities until COVID-19 disrupted the tradition, according to the council’s director, Bob Hayward.
Memorial Day—formerly called Decoration Day—was created from an order issued by Gen. John Logan about three years after the Civil War to honor fallen soldiers by placing “the choicest flowers of springtime” above their graves.
Several letters penned by U.S. soldiers who did not make it home from major wars were read by veterans at the service.
“If it is necessary that I should fall on the battlefields of my country, I am ready,” wrote one Civil War soldier to his wife before his last battle in 1861. “My love of you is deathless.”
“I use my life willingly for my country, knowing that it is given in a righteous cause,” a private who served during World War I wrote. “I made my peace with God.”
Tom Nosworthy, a Navy veteran who served in the Pacific during the Cold War era and a former longtime public servant in the Town of Wallkill government, was honored as grand marshal at the service.
A preplanned Memorial Day parade was canceled by the Veterans Council because of unfavorable weather predictions.
“As a veteran myself, it is very meaningful to be surrounded by fellow veterans from all generations,” U.S. Rep. Pat Ryan said at the service, adding that Memorial Day is one tradition that brings bipartisan lawmakers together at a time of political polarization.
“As a community, we owe an immeasurable debt of gratitude to you for your courage, resilience, and sacrifice,” Middletown Mayor Joeseph DeStefano said at the service. “We come together not only to honor the fallen but also to offer solace and support to their family and friends.”
“Memorial Day is not a happy day,” Town of Wallkill Supervisor George Serrano said at the service. “It is a day we as a nation should take a moment to reflect and remember those who served and to honor all U.S. soldiers who have given the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.”
Alan Mack, a guest speaker who served in the U.S. Army and currently works as Orange County deputy commissioner of emergency services, referenced an Ernest Hemingway quotation at the service: “Every man has two deaths, when he is buried in the ground and the last time someone says his name. In some ways, men can be immortal.”
“With that in mind, at least once a year like today, let us memorialize their sacrifices [and] keep them alive,” Mr. Mack said.
Mr. Hayward told The Epoch Times that the council, comprising members from American Legion Post 151 and 1181, was also thinking about creating a Veterans Day parade to celebrate veterans.
