General News: Vets Gather to Remember Pearl Harbor
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| County legislator Chris Eachus organized the Pearl Harbor commemoration. |
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| Lawrence Savercool spoke out how we can bring peace and understanding to the world. |
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| Father Bill Scalfidi blessed the wreaths before they were cast into the river. |
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| Paul Oser, commander of the county American Legion, and John Raszcewski, of American Legion Post 1161, stood at attention while the national anthem was performed. |
By Nancy Peckenham
A cold drizzle fell on Wednesday morning, forcing inside a memorial of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor 70 years ago that had been scheduled for outdoors at the Newburgh waterfront. The owners of Torches restaurant, which had put on a breakfast for the military veterans and their families, welcomed people to hold their ceremony inside and by 11 am, the room was packed wall-to-wall. As the program started, the New York Military Academy color guard presented, then stood in formation for the ceremony.
Chris Eachus, the Orange County legislator who is active in veterans’ groups, opened the program with his reflections on the loss of American servicemen at Pearl Harbor, “a date that will live in infamy,” according to the words of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. A day after the December 7, 1941, attack, Congress declared war on Japan and the Americans started their active role in World War II.
Eachus told those gathered that as a teacher at Newburgh Free Academy he starts each day with the pledge to the flag and a commitment to teach his students about the sacrifices that guaranteed freedom for Americans.
Some of the NFA students were on hand for the ceremony, members of the school’s Madrigal Chorus who sang “Oh Beautiful” and “God Bless America,” returning at the end of the program for an unusual vocal arrangement of “Taps.” The New York Military Academy band also performed.
Honoring sacrifices and remembering veterans’ service was the top of the order for Reverend Bill Scalfi, who spoke three times during the hour-long ceremony.
A Message of Peace and Understanding
Keynote speaker Lawrence Savercool, of the American Legion Post 152, a World War II veteran, recalled how he heard the news of the Pearl Harbor attack as he walked down Manhattan’s West End Avenue. But Savercool’s message soon turned to one of peace, as he told the crowd that even the Japanese mothers cried when their loved ones were killed.
“We have it in our power to make it a place of peace, of love, of understanding,” Savercool,said. He encouraged people to take steps to end wars, to stop putting down other people, like Islamists, instead of trying to raise them up. He praised the Occupy Wall Street movement for trying to help people who are losing out in the economy.
The crowd of some 100 veterans applauded loudly when Savercool finished his words. Then each veteran was invited to come up to the microphone to receive a commemorative Pearl Harbor coin and to tell people about their service. It was a long line of men, many with craggy faces and slow gaits, who stood in pride, remembering certainly not just their own service but that of others who did not live to tell their story back home.
Chris Eachus urged every veteran to think of the coin as a visible reminder of a story that they should pass down to their children. “Pass it down and tell the story of Pearl Harbor,” Eachus said, “ tell this story forever.”
As the ceremony ended, representatives of a half-dozen of the veterans groups moved outside to the riverfront, with wreaths to cast into the Hudson Rivers.
The veterans groups that participated in the Pearl Harbor Remembrance were:
Veterans of Foreign Wars
American Legion
Catholic War Veterans
Jewish War Veterans
China-Burma-India Veterans Association
Marine Corps League
Vietnam Veterans
Disabled American Veterans
Hudson Valley Merchant Marines
Purple Heart Veterans
Rolling Thunder Association
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