Memorial Day observance marked by veterans’ breakfast, parade, wreath laying
By Kelly Velocci and Gene Robbins, Packet Media Group
Township
pauses
to remember
Remember
– 8REMEMBER-
Kelly Velocci
and Gene RobbinsPacket Media Group
One by one, military veterans were invited to stand up Saturday at a Hillsborough’s Memorial Day weekend breakfast and cite their service branch and years.
They talked about friends who had died, battles they had fought in and jobs they had performed.
One veteran said he had served on a mortician ship.
"We sent home a lot of bodies," he recalled somberly.
Gus Dante urged the audience to remember modern-day POWs and MIAs, including one from Idaho captured in Afghanistan in 2009 and still held.
Hillsborough veteran Philip Gentile gave a salute to Somerville High School classmate Joe Polanko, ‘57, who died in Vietnam.
One veteran said he landed on Iwo Jima with Somerville war hero John Basilone. Another said journalist Ernie Pyle was on his ship before he was killed.
Mayor Frank DelCore said Tuesday night that the Memorial Day breakfast "was the best thing we do as a township." He said one could see the pride and patriotism in the eyes of veterans and hear it in their voices.
It touches the true meaning of Memorial Day, he said.
More than 200 people came to the breakfast to remember fallen comrades. They came dressed in military garb or in red, white and blue. They stood when the Hillsborough High School Chorale sang a medley of service branch anthems.
State Sen. Christopher "Kip" Bateman said, "We don’t say it enough. I thank every veteran n this room for their service."
After a parade that ended at the municipal building, Mayor DelCore addressed the crowd in the Garden of Honor. Quoting Abraham Lincoln, Mayor DelCore said, "A nation that does not honor its heroes will not long endure."
He asked residents to observe a moment of silence at 3 p.m. Monday.
Major Rob Movshin, a Hillsborough resident who had returned from Kandahar, Afghanistan, in January, said he was "beyond humbled" to be honored as the parade’s grand marshal.
He reflected on his Memorial Day only one year ago while on deployment in Afghanistan. Major Movshin said he has a "new perspective on Memorial Day" after watching four flag-draped coffins being loaded onto military transports.
He asked everyone to "pause and reflect" this weekend for what many have given to "let freedom ring." Major Movshin asked everyone to remember Memorial Day is "more than a day off or a trip down the shore."
The major said the recent Boston Marathon bombings should remind people the war on terror has not been won.
"I don’t need to tell you how precious the gift of freedom is," Major Movshin said.
Community groups placed 10 wreaths in the Garden of Honor commemorating servicemen and women. Marielle Brady sang "Amazing Grace," and Dustin Sciano, of the high school band, played taps.
"We don’t do this for gratitude or sympathy. There is a job to be done," Major Movshin said.