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Aging
veterans worry of lost tradition
By
Chris Swingle
Democrat and Chronicle, May 26, 2003
 Korean
War veteran John Smith of Webster pauses while placing flags on
veterans’ graves at Webster Rural Cemetery last week. He and other vets
placed more than 1,300 such flags around Webster.
To
remember and to honor fellow soldiers, Korean War veteran Ed Penrose of
Hilton marches in four Memorial Day parades this month, including
today’s in Rochester. As he calls out commands to the uniformed American
Legion color guard, ‘’I think of the guys I was with in Korea,
especially the ones who didn’t come home to us.’’ As a 20-year-old
Army infantryman, he fought with a guy called Smitty who was killed.
‘’I watched him when he got hit. You don’t forget these
things.’’
But Penrose, now 70, and other aging veterans worry that amid the picnics,
sporting events and store sales today, the public has forgotten the point
of the 135-year-old national holiday. ‘’You should be going to a
cemetery or church. Go say a prayer for someone who didn’t make it
back.’’
The commercialization of Memorial Day is seen as disrespectful. Sale ads,
especially the local store that uses U.S. Army General George S. Patton
Jr. to sell mattresses, infuriate John Foy of Greece. The 77-year-old
served under Patton in Europe’s five-week Battle of the Bulge, the
largest and deadliest World War II battle for the United States.
The surviving veterans who make Memorial Day happen by organizing parades
and community memorial services wonder who will continue these cherished
traditions as they die off.
Recent Persian Gulf wars have resulted in fewer fatalities than earlier,
bloodier conflicts of the 20th century. That means fewer Americans
personally know someone killed in the line of duty, which reduces younger
peoples’ connection to the meaning of Memorial Day.
’’Back during World War II, there was always the kid down the street
who got killed. Every neighborhood had one,’’ said Foy.
He went overseas in an Army company of 212 men. About 50 were killed and
most of the rest wounded, leaving him and just a handful of others who
returned unharmed.
By contrast, new Marine recruit Andrew Follett, 18, who will graduate in
June from Rochester’s Wilson Magnet High School, said, ‘’A lot of
people I know don’t have any connection to the military.’’
There are signs that the commemoration of Memorial Day is changing.
Today, for example, is probably the last time that the handful of local
Pearl Harbor Survivors Association members will participate -- some
marching, some riding in cars -- in Rochester’s Memorial Day parade,
said Henry Cudzilo of Webster, who is 81. In Greece, Foy said many members
of the Genesee Valley Chapter of Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge are
in poor health and unable to march, so they’re riding in convertibles in
the parade.
Penfield last year ended its Memorial Day parade, instead holding a
ceremony at its new memorial behind Town Hall because the traditional
parade attracted far fewer spectators than the one on July 4.
Yet there also are signs that the public won’t let veterans be
forgotten.
The Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks stirred up U.S. patriotism among all
ages. ‘’They’re not taking their freedoms for granted,’’ said
David Burley, 53, of Webster. ‘’I’ve run into a lot of people in
their 20s who are quite patriotic.’’
The Monroe County commander of the Sons of the American Legion sees
increasing respect at Memorial Day parades, such as spectators taking off
their hats when the flag is carried past.
Many say that education -- at home and at school -- is the key, so that
future generations remember the sacrifices that made America what it is.
Barry Culhane, who served stateside as a medic treating injured soldiers
during the Vietnam War, was horrified that his daughters’ textbooks had
only a couple of sentences about that war. Culhane spearheaded the effort
to create the Vietnam Memorial at Highland Park and gives tours to school
groups.
’’It’s ancient history to them,’’ said Culhane, 56, of
Rochester. When he tells them the average age of a soldier killed in
Vietnam was just 19.6 years, ‘’that really catches them.’’ When
students walk among the memorial’s winding trail of 280 short poles,
each bearing the name of a local soldier who died, they are typically
drawn to those from their own high school.
Learning about other Rochester connections to war can make history real.
The Genesee River, for example, was the dividing line between the French
and British empires in the middle of the 18th century. Later, the British
took over and ultimately the colonists revolted and fought for
independence.
’’Western New York became part of America because of veterans,’’
said Morris A. Pierce, a Vietnam veteran who teaches American military
history at the University of Rochester.
History lessons didn’t stick with Melinda Thomas, 30, a Monroe Community
College student. But she recently saw the movie Pearl Harbor and was so
struck by it that she asked her mother and grandmother about the surprise
Japanese attack on the naval base. Thomas’ relatives shared their
memories of the 1941 attack, further making that historic time come alive
to her.
In the midst of the war in Iraq, she and others in the MCC Peer Mentors
group wanted to do something to recognize servicemen and servicewomen.
Thomas helped organize a campus event this month that ended up honoring
veterans as well as police officers, firefighters and community
volunteers.
A visit to a cemetery can also serve as a history lesson for young people.
’’They’ve got to look at the names on the stones. That was the youth
of America at that time,’’ said Robert N. Dardano Sr., a veteran who
for 36 years has led an annual tribute to local veterans who died in the
previous year.
’’We’re hoping the younger generation will get involved a little bit
more,’’ said Dardano, 75, of Rochester, who each year invites a
different teenage Eagle Scout to participate in the ceremony at the
Rochester Community War Memorial. ‘’I have no fear the youth of
America will be there if needed.’’
Jesse Stevens, 70, of Rochester believes people should honor veterans
year-round.
The former military radio operator volunteers with local veterans groups,
participates in American Legion honor guards at military burials, speaks
to schoolchildren about soldiers’ contributions and sells handmade
poppies. But there is plenty more to do, he said, such as visiting
veterans in nursing homes, advocating for veterans to receive proper care
and full medical benefits, tending veterans’ graves and flying the
American flag daily.
’’Every day is Memorial Day for me.’’
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© 2002 Global Action on Aging
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