The Great Neck community commemorated the lives of fallen soldiers for the 99th Memorial Day, honoring them with a parade and ceremony.
The tribute kicked off Monday, May 26, starting with a parade that concluded at the Great Neck Village Green where a ceremony was held.
Leading the parade as its grand marshal was World War II veteran Harold Radish, 101, who was a German prisoner of war during his service.
“Honor the heroes but also honor the families behind the warriors, who went to bed every night worrying about them,” Radish told ceremony attendees. “Honor them.”
Radish joined the army at 18 ½, serving as a sergeant in the 90th Division of the 3rd Army in the European Theater.
He was a prisoner of war for four months before he was liberated by the British Army.
After returning home, Radish attended and graduated from NYU on the GI Bill. He went on to work as a New York City Public School teacher and, after retiring, served as a counselor for the Prisoner of War Unit at Ft. Hamilton.
Following Radish were hundreds of parade marchers, including servicemen and women from Great Neck’s own U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, local veterans, Great Neck South High School’s marching band, public officials and various local organizations.
The concluding ceremony included a 21-gun salute, a playing of taps by the Merchant Marine Academy and speeches commemorating the fallen.
“It was a very moving ceremony,” said Donald Panetta, who helped organize the commemoration.
Memorial Day is not a celebration, Panetta said, but rather a day of commemoration. This was embodied in the honoring of the men and women who died for their country. Panetta said it is because of them that there can even be a parade.
Panetta said he is looking forward to next year’s centennial Memorial Day service.
