The City of Rye honored the service of veterans on November 10 and 11, 2022. On Thursday November 10, Legionnaires and veterans attended breakfast with students at Milton Elementary School and later in the morning participated in a prayer service with students at Resurrection School. On Veterans Day, the Post led the City of Rye ceremony at City Hall.
November 10
At Milton School, each of the veterans were assigned a table and a small group of fifth grade students sat at each table with one of the veterans. Each student had a few standard questions, and they also asked a few of their own. It was a very well-organized event by Tom Bailey, fifth grade teacher at Milton. We’ll look forward to future ones. Thanks to all who attended: Tony Bancroft, Tom Battista, Fred de Barros, Patrick Murphy, and Christian Wade. Many of the veterans were impressed by the questions the students asked.
At Resurrection School, there were 16 veterans – some Legionnaires, and some potential Legionnaires – who attend a prayer service with the entire Resurrection School comprised of over 300 students. The veterans marched into the church, and all sat together. Msgr. Dwyer offer kind prayers and words about the veterans to the students. He gave special acknowledgement to the Vietnam vets. The students sang patriotic songs, waved flags, and posted “Thank You to Veterans” cards all around the church. This event too was a very well-organized event, and we’ll look forward to future ones. Thanks to all who attended!
Comments from veterans at both activities were that they were very special and meaningful.
November 11
On Veterans Day, American Legion Post 128 Commander Fred de Barros led the Rye City Veterans Day ceremony at Rye City Hall. The ceremony was held indoors due to rain. In his introductory comments, Fred highlighted the American Legion values of the importance of preserving our American traditions and values, improving the quality of life for our nation’s children, caring for veterans and their families, and perhaps most importantly, teaching the fundamentals of good citizenship. He thanked the community for events at Milton School, Resurrection Church and for “Thank You” cards received from Midland Elementary School.
Rye City Mayor Josh Cohn, County Executive George Latimer and NYS Shelley Mayer all offered welcoming remarks. Rabbi Daniel Gropper of the Community Synagogue of Rye delivered a beautiful Invocation. Legion Auxiliary Commander Robin Latimer sang beautifully of course!
To honor veterans from Rye who participated in the Battel of Guadalcanal on its 80th anniversary, Legionnaire USMC veteran Terry McCartney and SAL Commander Jeff Dempsey read biographies of US Marines Daniel Coughlin and Joseph Maloney. Both of these USMC veterans of Guadalcanal, and subsequent battels in the Pacific, returned after the war to contribute to service in Rye. These US Marines from Rye participated in one of the bloodiest battles of WWII and is recognized as the first major offensive action against the Japanese in the war following the attack at Peral Harbor. Read their expanded biographies here: Daniel Coughlin and Joseph Maloney.
RyeTV recorded the event. See video here: https://ryeny.new.swagit.com/videos/189558
MyRye.com wrote a nice article in the site too. Be sure to read at https://myrye.com/my_weblog/2022/11/council-chambers-fills-for-veterans-day.html
Rye, NY American Legion Post 128 