Photo gallery: Riverhead and Calverton National Cemetery observe Veterans Day
It was a beautiful day to salute local veterans for courage, service and dedication to protecting the country’s freedom.
The sun shone bright over Calverton National Cemetery for its annual Veterans Day ceremony on Wednesday afternoon, which attracted veterans — from Riverhead and beyond — to reflect on their service in the armed forces, as well as their loved ones and elected officials who showed their appreciation.
As the North Shore Community Band played the anthem of each of the six branches of military service, veterans and their family members stood with pride and absorbed the applause.
In his welcoming remarks, Calverton National Cemetery director Cesar Julca expressed gratitude for the veterans who answered the call to defend democracy and preserve “the way of life we enjoy today.”
“They have sacrificed their youth, their time, their health, and in some cases, their very lives, in service to our country,” Mr. Julca said. “But sacrifice does not exist only in the battlefield — even in time of peace, military service comes from personal sacrifices, missed birthdays, holidays, family gatherings, and precious moments with the loved ones. These are sacrifices that often go unseen, but they’re no less meaningful.”
Rabbi Paul Swerdlow, who is a retired U.S. Army colonel and lead chaplain of the Northport V.A., spoke of the special bond between his “brothers and sisters” of service.
“I was approached by the Vietnam Veterans of America to become a member, I said ‘I was in Italy, I didn’t serve in Vietnam,'” Mr. Swerdlow said. “What they said to me is, ‘you served, you’re one of us.’ All of us come from different backgrounds, we’re different — we’re different religions, we’re different colors, we have different thoughts, that doesn’t matter.”
Doug Elliott, a 1976 Riverhead High School graduate and Bellport resident, was a junior when he enlisted through a delayed-entry program and served in the U.S. Army as a mechanic with the 82nd Airborne in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He told the Riverhead News-Review following the ceremony he knew at a young age he wanted to join the service — which propelled him “through life.”
“It just shows more that you’re disciplined, and it carries you in life,” Mr. Elliott said. “Without our veterans, we wouldn’t have America.”
Established in 1978, Calverton National Cemetery conducts up to 6,000 internments annually, with more than 300,000 veterans and eligible family members interred in over 230,000 gravesites on the hallowed grounds. Each year, the Support Committee for Calverton National Cemetery organizes a Veterans Day tribute — with the exception of last year when the government shutdown thwarted the annual event.
Earlier in the day, the Riverhead Combined Veterans Committee held a solemn observance at the War Memorial monument, located across from the Riverhead Free Library on the lawn of the Suffolk County Historical Society Museum.
Riverhead VFW Post 2476 Commander Thomas Najdzion led the ceremony, which included a gun salute and wreath-laying at the solid granite block monument inscribed with the names of over 300 local men who served in World War I, and the nine who perished. An eternal gas flame was added to the monument in 2001.
Mr. Najdzion reflected on the meaning of the American flag, what each color represents and honored those in the Riverhead community who “fought under the sacred symbol of our land.”
“These American defenders left our schools, our shops, our farms, to take up weapons against foes,” the Riverhead VFW post commander said. “They were aware of the dangers before them, yet they responded without hesitancy to the call to duty…they are the true guardians of freedom, peace, justice, and equality among men.”
Riverhead Town Supervisor Jerry Halpin said we owe veterans “a lifetime of gratitude.”
“You teach the next generations to stand and to defend this great country, and our town, and the freedoms that we have,” Mr. Halpin said.
Ed Raffel of Riverhead served with Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 40 — a U.S. Navy Seabee unit nicknamed the “Fighting Forty” — and made two trips to Vietnam. He told the Riverhead News-Review after the ceremony he remembers trying to get home and getting in trouble for hitchhiking back to Riverhead.
At the time, he said Vietnam veterans faced hostility — which makes ceremonies and other tributes on Veterans Day today so meaningful.
“You were in Vietnam, forget it,” Mr. Raffel said. “[Today], they give us pretty good recognition.”
Photos by Ana Borruto
