By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Harry Strack returned home safely from the Vietnam War. Some of his buddies did not.
“I can’t forget the guys I served with. There were a couple of guys who didn’t make it back,” said Strack, his voice filled with emotion.
During a particularly poignant moment in Sea Isle City’s Memorial Day ceremony, Strack was wrapped in a hand-stitched Quilt of Valor to symbolically comfort him from the horrors of war.
The 75-year-old Army veteran and Sea Isle resident was presented with the quilt by Kathy Tweed, a representative of the South Jersey Quilts of Valor Foundation. The foundation makes the quilts for veterans who have been “touched by war.”
Strack also had the honor of presenting two flowered wreaths in remembrance of the veterans of World Wars I and II and the Vietnam War to Charles “Chick” Haines, the newly appointed commander of VFW District 17 overseeing VFW posts in Cape May County.
“I’m very honored – especially to represent the veterans,” Strack said in an interview after the ceremony.
About 300 people joined with dignitaries and members of all branches of the U.S. military at the solemn ceremony at Veterans Park to remember and honor those who have died in war to protect America’s freedoms.
During the early stages of the pandemic last year, when large outdoor gatherings were prohibited, Sea Isle created a Memorial Day video as a virtual tribute to the veterans.
With the lifting of New Jersey’s COVID-19 restrictions and mask mandate by Gov. Phil Murphy on Friday, Sea Isle was able to resume its traditional in-person Memorial Day ceremony. The crowd filled up Veterans Park and spilled out onto the sidewalk.
“Tell the truth, isn’t it great to be out again?” Mayor Leonard Desiderio said while exhorting the maskless crowd.
He was greeted by an enthusiastic “yeah.”
Although the Memorial Day ceremony focused on the nation’s war dead, Sea Isle also honored the living veterans who attended the event. Desiderio asked all of the veterans to stand or raise their hands so they could be recognized by the applauding crowd.
Among the veterans sitting in the audience was the mayor’s 93-year-old father, Leonard J. Desiderio, who served in the Army during the Korean War. During the ceremony, the elder Desiderio presented a wreath in memory of the Americans who died in the Korean War.
In keynote remarks, Mayor Desiderio recognized the fallen heroes who “secured an inheritance of liberty for all of us.”
“Without their sacrifices, America would be a very different place,” he said.
“Very often, their blood was the currency that purchased our freedom,” Desiderio added.
Haines, who had the honor of placing wreaths made of red and white carnations at the Memorial Fountain at Veterans Park, told the crowd that “far too many never returned” from war.
During another somber moment at the ceremony, Haines read a roll call of honored dead veterans who had ties to the local community.
Another speaker, state Assemblyman Antwan McClellan, who represents the First Legislative District, said that because of the bravery of so many men and women in the U.S. military who gave their lives, Americans have the fortune of living in freedom.
Yet McClellan also warned of the possibility of even more wars erupting in a tumultuous world.
“We know more names will be added to those headstones,” he said.
After the ceremony at Veterans Park, Boy Scouts from Troop 76 in Sea Isle led spectators to the beach while carrying a flowered wreath.
The wreath was presented to members of the Sea Isle Beach Patrol, who rowed one of their lifeguard boats beyond the breakers and set the flowers adrift in honor of sailors who lost their lives at sea.
