Throughout World War I, Catholics in the French village of Ban-de-Laveline had no pastor, because their priest was taken hostage by the Germans. But in 1918, a U.S. Army chaplain from Brooklyn came to bury 18 of his men killed in action, and a special bond formed between the village and a new parish in Jackson Heights, Queens.
This year’s Memorial Day Masses resumed in person following a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic.
When Bob Tuszynski heard about a request in May 2020 for buglers and trumpeters to perform “Taps” at 3 p.m. on Memorial Day, he jumped at the opportunity.
The Brooklyn Memorial Day Parade will take place on Memorial Day, Monday, May 31, at 11 a.m. — with a twist. Instead of marching on foot, participants will be driving in a caravan of antique cars and military vehicles like Jeeps and Humvees.
On a warm, sunny and solemn Memorial Day, more than 100 faithful gathered at St. John Cemetery in Middle Village for the diocese’s annual field Mass.
Auxiliary Bishop James Massa celebrated the Memorial Day Field Mass at St. Mary Star of the Sea Cemetery in Lawrence, L.I. A small congregation of 25 people attended the liturgy that was celebrated under a large white tent surrounded by headstones decorated with flowers and American flags.
Msgr. Sherman Council of the Knights of Columbus in Glendale participated in the 80th annual Ridgewood and Glendale Memorial Day Parade. Father Fred Marano, pastor of Sacred Heart parish, East Glendale, gave the benediction.
The 151st annual Memorial Day Parade in Bay Ridge drew larger crowds and reported more participants than recent years
Sitting atop the back of a convertible, World War II veteran Luke Gasparre, 94, proudly waved to the crowds as he was driven along Northern Boulevard in the annual Little Neck-Douglaston Memorial Day Parade May 28.
Our Memorial Day was originally known as “Decoration Day,” an opportunity to decorate many graves of the over 600,000 men who died in the Civil War. It was, by far, our nation’s costliest war in terms of human life, about two percent of the entire population. Today, that would translate into 6.5 million people. Memorial Day honors all who have died in military service to our country since its inception. But why should we, as a nation and as Catholics, remember something so … grim?
