PORT JERVIS – Residents of the City of Port Jervis honored the sacrifices and memory of America’s fallen military men and women on Memorial Day. Dozens gathered in the city’s historic Orange Square, where soldiers, veterans, and members of the community have gathered over decades and centuries for similar reasons and reflection.
Students from Port Jervis School District provided a variety of patriotic band, choral, and individual solo performances in tribute to the fallen, along with stirring tributes by the Broome Street Band.
Roosa-Fleming VFW Post #161Chaplain Steve Kronimus prayed for God’s remembrance of those who lived and died fighting to protect mankind’s dignity and freedom and asked that all remain true soldiers in war and peace.
“Make us a generation of wisdom, discipline, and faith,” Kronimus he said.
It was Kronimus’ words of prayer, followed by Tri-States Naval Ship Post #7241Commander and Master of Ceremonies Fabrizzio Morejon’s earnest remarks that brought reminders of the meaning of the day.
Morejon shared his feelings of profound and somber honor in gathering on the 250th Anniversary as a nation for such reminder and reflection.
“Today there is a distance between the civilian experience of this day and its true, heavy reality. In the rush and instant gratification of our modern life, the cost of freedom has simply become a cliché for way too many; just a phrase on a banner, hashtag, or social media,” Morejon said. “But for we who have served in uniform, and families who have lived with a Gold Star in their window, that cost is not an abstract concept.”
Morejon noted it is rather the silence of a phone that will never ring, the birthday of a child who will never know their parent, and the life unlived by a brother or sister in arms who fell in service to their nation. He called upon all to look past the cookouts and long weekends and visit the cemeteries, say the names and reflect upon the youth of those who lie under headstone flags locally, in Orange County, and across the nation.
“Our freedom is not a gift. It is a debt that was purchased with the blood of our nation’s heroes, our truest patriots. This debt can never truly be repaid. But we can – and must – remember this every day,” Morejon said. “Teach your children their names and stories. Resolve to live lives worthy of their sacrifices. Keep their memories not just in the stone and bronze, but in the way we treat one another as fellow Americans.”
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