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* i bc'-emonaBY PETE MCGOVERN WITH HARRIET HILLERa few personal recollections.God 0/ our fathers, known of old, Lord of our far flung battle line, Beneath whose awful hand we hold Dominion of our pain and pine Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet Lest we forget — lest we forget!(From Rudyard Kipling’s“Recessional“Memorial Day is not just a holiday weekend. On Veteran’s Day we honor all the veterans. Memorial Day is different, it is the day we honor all those who made the final sacrifice for our country,” David B. Judson, the past commander of American Legion Post 74 in Fairfield said. Judson enlisted in the U.S. Navy and saw duty in Vietnam, served in both the Atlantic and Pacific fleets and in Cuba as well.“I lost friends I grew up and went to school with in Fairfield. One young marine from here died in May of 1965, in Santa Domingo, on a mission initiated by the Organization of American States to repel a communist guerrilla group who were trying to take over the government.“I wish more people would take pause on Memorial Day and rememberthose who died fighting for our liberty. Let everybody enjoy the parades and the celebration, but let us remember, too.•V- • j.. jK4The Way They WereA shell fragment just removed from a leg, Lt. Bill Fox enjoyed a stage revue in the Globe Theatre in London. Spotting the Prime Minister inone of the seats, he yelled, Hello-o-o- Winnie” as the audience howled.The PM, grinning at the brashnessof the Westport kid on crutches,Norman Rockwell paintingsAbove, “Let’s Give Him Enough,” 1942. Below, “Rosie The Riveter,” 1943, as seen in “Norman Rockwell, Pictures for the American People,” 1999 Exhibition catalogue by Maureen Hart Hennessey and Anne Knutson. Distributed by Harry N. Abrams, Inc.glanced over and said, “Thank you Yank, for coming here!”PFC Peter Palmer made it safelythrough Italy from North Africa, saying, “It’s a little bit like home.” He visited his mother and father’s village and sat in his Dad’s favorite chair. Have some gum, chums,” he said to gawking urchins...Lt. (jg) Dan Driscoll wore his flightjacket touring Fairfield as pretty teenagers eyed the first flying ace they’d ever seen. He shot down five Jap Zeroes...Georgette Newman was given a medal by the Royal Family for zeal in driving an ambulance non-stop in bombed-out London over a span of days...Before any call to war came, many WW II veterans were local school kids.Lt. Charles DeMaria’s father had a barbershop on Main St., The ex-Little Leaguer set a Staples record for the pole vault at just over 12 feet. Along with nine of his crew, he died when his Liberator crashed somewhere in England.Sgt. George Taylor, waist gunner of a Flying Fort felt lucky counting 287 shell and bullet holes after a bombing raid. One pierced his flak jacket barely missing his body...Home on leave when the telegram arrived, Angelo Cuseo, school guard and garbage man, learned that the ship bringing his brother Jim home struck a floating mine in New York Bay. A week later he would have been 21. Mother Lucy Cuseo died earlier with a broken heart when the last Cuseo boy had signed up, leaving home. Angleo pulled down the window shade hiding from view of the curious, Lucy's Gold Star Mother’s Flag ... with seven stars...Remembering is something that those remaining veterans cannot help but do, in vivid detail, on Memorial Day. Howard Munce, the illustrator/artist and ex-WW II Marine, will never forget that after 32 months on bloody Bougainville, he placed his sketch pad into his tattered knapsack to accept a battlefield commission.Like the good artist he is, morale-makcr John I^aPick in Korea painted likenesses of movie queen favorites,and unit identities upon tanks, jeeps and company vehicles. Uniforms, rank, didn't matter but he sure received lots of citations and a commendation medal.Commander Bill Varga of American Legion Post 74 in Fairfield expressed sentiments that are certain to be shared by many; “Living with veterans through the past years has been such a blessed thing. Remembering all the nice things that also happened hometown, made a life and a family of six. All three during the war years, and after, serve as extra blessings,***itt**o«#»And parades there will be. Along about 8 a.m. (Monday, May 28) all elements of the Memorial Day Parade will assemble in numbered stations along Westport’s Riverside Ave., even as parading personnel in Fairfield collect for its similar scamper honoring U. S. servicemen and women, past and present.Perennial Parade Master Bill Vornkahl in Westport will signal to 200l’s parade Marshall Barbara Carrier Duffy, valiant Pacific War nurse who will signal the Bedford Middle School Band to begin a melodic riff to flurry the marchers into action.Westport ranks will be swelled by another persistent patriot, Air Force Nurse Capt. Jean Plasan, veteran of World War II and the Korean conflict. Plasan,Grand Marshall of the 1994 parade, has been a longtime Veteran’s Day Council member.While Fairfield will assign heroine Vera Nasal, pastcommander of American Legion Post 74 and U.S.Navy nurse Helen Sherry, who served the VFW for 25 years and is a 30-year parade veteran marcher, the task of signaling the Fairfield parade to begin.A West Virginia native, Nasal, at age 20, enlisted in the U.S. Navy Waves, her dad had to sign his permission on the forms, and spent 1943 to 1945 as an aviation mechanic stateside. “One day, a group of us was coming from the movies and we saw a Navy sign. I just felt like I wanted to enlist.”She did boot camp at Hunter College in the Bronx, went to a training center in Memphis where she learned to service fighter planes, and was stationed inOklahoma and Maryland. “I worked on small fighter hoys became Marines, two became career men, the and remembering that the American Legion and the planes. It was a wonderful experience. I just loved it. youngest is still serving. VFW are still serving our country.“It is essential that we also all remember the valiantAnd, I would recommend it to young women today,The spirit of “Lest We Forget” is imbued in ourthere are many educational advantages to be in the ser- wartime sons and daughters, and that spirit is quick veteran, David Tippetts, the pilot that dropped the first* t 1 « • 1 1 « 1 • • .... • ■ • «f 1 • ivice.to pervade those watching the parade and the cere- atomic bomb. That bomb saved so many millions ofNasal met her husband, a Navy man and a Fairfield monies following. To keep the memory of what Americans and multi-millions of Japanese veterans’native, during this time. They married, moved to his some of our neighbors did for our country, here are lives,” Varga said. “We should not forget that.”
Newspaper Details
Fairfield Minuteman
Fairfield, Connecticut, US
Thu, May 24, 2001
Page 33
Full Page
Clipped by
Leah R.
CA, USA 07 May 2019
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