Military Honored by Whitehall Officials

Members of the community gathered at the for an annual Memorial Day ceremony on Monday.

The ceremony was started with the Pledge of Allegiance, led by Second Lieutenant James Morris, who graduated from the United States Military Academy only a week earlier. (Sentence corrected from "First Lieutenant." The Baldwin-Whitehall Patch regrets the error.)

Sixth-grader Katie Zemaitis, of , sang the national anthem.

Father John R. Haney, who was by the Council of the Borough of Whitehall for his , delivered an invocation using the imagery of a lone tree. Haney asked those present to compare the tree to a soldier who gave his or her life for others.

“We pause today to remember that freedom is not free,” Haney said. “God bless all those who paid the supreme sacrifice.”

During her welcoming announcements, council President Linda J. Book recounted the history of Memorial Day.

“Remembrance and reconciliation: That’s what Memorial Day is all about,” Book said.

Book also highlighted the fact that this Memorial Day marked the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. As such, she noted that Gettysburg–site of the Civil War battle with the largest number of casualties–had recently opened a new visitor center.

“I think it’s so important for families to remember our past,” Book said. “Soldiers’ history is our history.”

Whitehall Mayor James F. Nowalk gave a speech centered on the ongoing war in Afghanistan. He chronicled the military engagement beginning with the terrorist attacks of 9/11.

“The attack of 9/11 was not a military attack like the one on Pearl Harbor,” Nowalk said. “It was an attack on civilians.”

With the , Nowalk said, “one of the major goals in the war in Afghanistan has been realized.”

However, Nowalk also noted that the war in Afghanistan is ongoing, using headlines from the day’s newspapers to make his point.

Also speaking at the event was Marilyn Pfaff, who leads the AnySoldier campaign, which puts together care packages and letters for troops deployed in combat zones.

“They are still in harm’s way,” Pfaff said, agreeing with Nowalk’s assessment of the current state of operations in Afghanistan.

Since beginning her project, Pfaff has sent 700 packages and hundreds of letters.

“I know we’ve put smiles on the faces of recipients,” Pfaff said, “but also on their buddies’ because they share everything with each other.”

Pfaff collects items for care packages in what she calls “a magic box,” which is located inside the entryway.

Several veterans were present at the gathering, including Book’s father Raymond Book, who was present at the invasion of Normandy, France, on D-Day during World War II.

Mort Parker, a World War II naval pilot, also spoke, sharing a story of a wartime flight across the United States.