Memorial Day – A Day of Remembrance

On Saturday, May 28th Little Falls held its annual Memorial Day Commemoration to honor the men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice..

The ceremony was lead by Herbert Brychta, Commander of American Legion (*) Singac Post 108 {591 Main Street Little Fall, NJ; Tel:  (973) 256-9548} .

Here are excerpts from Brychta’s Memorial Day remarks:

Ladies and Gentlemen,   

As always, on behalf of American Legion Post 108, Veterans, and Gold Star families everywhere, thank you for attending today’s ceremony. The gift of your time to remember our war dead is greatly appreciated.   

The American Legion is committed to achieving a full accounting of Prisoners of War and those who are Missing in Action from the Gulf Wars, Vietnam War, Cold War, Korean War and World War II. 

This means returning living POWs, the repatriation of their remains, or finding convincing evidence why neither of these is possible. We signify our commitment to our missing brothers and sisters by displaying the POW flag in the park all year long. 

Memorial Day began in 1868 as a way to remember the civil war dead.  Back then it was called Decoration Day because they would actually decorate the graves of their fallen friends and family with flowers and wreaths. 

Wreaths in remembrance of the fallen have been placed earlier by the Mayor, Council Members and the Little Falls Police Department. 

After World War 1, people began wearing poppies as these were the flowers that sprang up in the field where the dead were buried after the battle of Ypres.  We’re getting back to that tradition today, so thanks to those who put the poppies on that we passed out. 

Gradually the name evolved from Decoration Day to Memorial Day, becoming a permanent 3 day weekend in the late 60s. 

Why have Memorial Day? 

During the Civil War, World War 1 and World War 2, everyone knew someone who didn’t make it home. And there was a more personal investment then. There was a draft. If you knew 5 people between 18 and 25 years of age, 4 of them got drafted for World War 2 and had a chance to end up on this monument. 

War touched everyone then and continued to do so through the Vietnam era.  We won’t dwell on the right or wrong of that time, but the chance of being put in harms way for an unpopular war brought protests. Again, I’m not saying right or wrong, but we can all agree that people cared and were emotionally invested. They cared about their friends and family not ending up on this monument. 

That’s the power of this piece of stone – the power of these people’s sacrifice.       

Now that we’ve effectively gotten rid of the draft, as a society we’ve lost that emotional connection to war.  It’s easier to say “let’s go get some troops over there” when we know it won’t be us or our friends or our kids doing the dying. 

So today we offer respect and pay tribute to our fallen on this monument.  And the best respect we can give is to not add more names to this monument unless our cause is just and our nation is united in purpose.       

The folks on the monument are our town’s share of the national cost of war.  Every soldier thinks of home a lot.  Our town likely served as the setting for many stories told by our fallen during a break in the action. 

32 names are forever inscribed upon this monument. 

Three from World War 1, the “war to end all wars,” now over 100 years in our past.  The great, great grandparents of today’s youngest soldiers, marines, sailors, and air force.     

28 from World War 2, members of the greatest generation, a time when the whole of our nation’s might was involved in the war effort – militarily, industrially, and agriculturally.   

One from the conflict in Afghanistan.  Begun in response to the horrific attacks on American soil in 2001 which happened less than 20 miles from where we stand.   

These are the names of the men from Little Falls who paid the ultimate price.

World War I:  Henry Buikema, Austin Loran, and James Storey Moon. 

World War II: John Adams Beattie, Louis Carota, George H. Cuemen, Leon De Graw, John Di Giacom, Vincent Dombrowski, Howard Ferguson, Christian Fimble, Raymond Fylstra, Michael G. Hackes, Robert Harriott, Thomas Kolanich, Thomas J. Kriel,  Michael Marchisen, Nickolas Marchisen, Walter Marron Jr., George W. Metzler, Angelo Marabelli, John W. O’Connor, Robert V. Pitcher, James F. Purdy Jr., John Ratamay, George Ritacco, Walter Rogalsk, William C. Sigler, Joseph Van Stratton, Steven Walker, and Walter Yaworski.

Operation Iraqi Freedom: Michael R. Hullender.

The rifle detail composed of Bert Brychta, Rudy Aldice, Sal Micale, Allen Stone, and John Nielsen will be firing three volleys in memory of the fallen. This tradition is rooted in Roman times.  At the end of the day of battle when the field was cleared, if the soldier removing the slain soldier knew the name of the fallen, then they would call his name three times into the night as a form of remembering their sacrifice. 

Ladies and gentlemen,  as we conclude the ceremony, I’d like to thank you again for attending. 

All any service member wants is to be remembered if they fall. You being with us each year does just that.  When you leave here, please go enjoy yourself.  I assure you the folks on this monument would want nothing less. 

Have a wonderful weekend and I hope it is the start to your best summer yet.   

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(*) The American Legion was chartered and incorporated by Congress in1919 as a patriotic veterans organization devoted to mutual helpfulness. 

The American Legion’s mission statement as adopted by the National Executive Committee in October 2020 is to enhance the well-being of America’s veterans, their families, our military and our communities by our devotion to mutual helpfulness. 

The American Legion’s vision statement is “The American Legion: Veterans Strengthening America.”