Veterans Day celebrated at the American Legion
The outdoor pavilion at the Pine Island American Legion Post #136 was packed with several hundred people Monday morning to remember our veterans on Veterans Day.
The ceremony kicked off at precisely 11 a.m., on the 11th day of the 11th month. This symbolic day, date and time marks the end of the first World War 101 years ago.
American Legion Commander Ed Mitchell offered a special recognition to the World War II veterans present for the ceremony. Only a few were in attendance.
Ninety-five-year-old Frank Furia was there for the ceremony. Furia, from Rochester, New York, enlisted in the Navy when he was 18 years old and served on the USS Monterey. The Monterey was a light cruiser converted to an aircraft carrier. His experiences included dropping depth charges on Japanese submarines, riding out Typhoon Cobra in the Pacific and meeting future president Gerald Ford, who was assigned to the Monterey.
Also present was Ed Snyder. He was 21 years old when Pearl Harbor was attacked on Dec. 7, 1941. He joined the Army Air Corps.
“I wanted to be a pilot but ‘washed out’ of flight school,” Snyder said. “I went on to be trained as a bombardier in Pueblo, Colorado, and was assigned to the 466th Bomb Group.”
Once bombardier school was completed, Snyder was shipped to Attlebridge, England.
“Many of the guys flew over but I went on the Queen Mary,” Snyder said. “Once I got to England, I was assigned to the U.S. 8th and 15th Air Force as a bombardier in a B-24 Liberator.”
Snyder flew 30 missions over Nazi Germany in a B-24 as a bombardier.
“If there be glory in war, it is the incredible spirit which it engenders,” VFW Commander Austin White said. “Those who offer their lives, sacrifice their all with magnificent abandon. Heroism becomes contagious. Yet, too, in warfare, greed and brutality are epidemic. Too often it is these later which persist in the peace that follows. Let us strive to see the same spirit of self-sacrifice is cultivated in peace as has been exhibited in war.”
“I’d like to thank every veteran for their service and every one that came today,” Mitchell said. “These ceremonies are very important to remind people that these men and women served our country and that there are thousands serving today.”
The program concluded with a 21-gun salute by the Legion honor guard and the playing of “Taps.”