By Victoria Hurley-Schubert, Staff Writer
The Princeton Memorial Day Parade started with a bang. Literally.
Colonial reenactors fired the opening shots of the parade at 10 a.m. as participants stepped off to make their way down Nassau Street to Borough Hall for a ceremony honoring veterans who died in service to our country.
Veterans were paying tribute to fellow soldiers who fought before and after them during the parade that had people most dressed in red, white and blue lining both sides of the street.
”It’s recognition and in memorial of the people who died,” said Vincent Ross of Skillman, who served on a destroyer in the Navy Reserves before being discharged in 1954.
”It’s mostly for the dead and for the benefit of the children. I hope the knowledge is passed on; it’s very important,” said Wallace Holland, a former Marine Corps sergeant from Princeton Borough who served in World War II and the Korean War, as he swapped stories with fellow veterans. “If we don’t commemorate those that have given their lives, it will be forgotten and all for naught.”
In the Armstrong household, the Memorial Day parade was the topic of discussion at the breakfast table.
”We talked about the parade over breakfast and I’m very excited to march in it,” said Lilly Armstrong, an 8-year-old Girl Scout.
For township resident Brad Ackerman and his 10-year-old son, honoring soldiers doesn’t stop at Memorial Day. In addition to marching in the parade with the Spirit of Princeton, father and son handed out American flags along the route and packaged supplies for Operation Shoebox, a nonprofit organization that sends goody boxes to soldiers overseas.
The marchers ranged from bagpipers, to twirlers to Boy and Girl Scouts to Colonial horse riders and local law enforcement.
”It’s the best spot because you get to watch everything,” said Catherine Coetzee, who was watching the participants assemble at the beginning of the route at the corner of Nassau Street and Princeton Avenue with her husband and son. “We watch them set up for an hour.”
They watched as an Operation Desert Storm gun truck, a World War II weapons carrier, service personnel and community groups all passed by and made the turn onto Nassau Street.
World War II veteran Herb Hobler, a member of the Spirit of Princeton, and Ray Wadsworth, chair of the Spirit of Princeton, were presented with certificates in recognition of all the volunteer work they do organizing patriotic events in Princeton. The Spirit of Princeton organizes the Memorial Day Parade, the Flag Day ceremony, the July 4 fireworks and Veterans Day ceremony.
