Military’s Sacrifices Remembered at Valhalla Cemetery Ceremony
About 80 local veterans, public officials and residents kicked off the Memorial Day weekend Friday afternoon with a ceremony at the Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla to honor those who sacrificed their lives serving in the nation’s military.
Veterans raised a Medal of Honor flag to remember its recipients who exhibited personal acts of valor above and beyond the call of duty at the cemetery’s seventh annual Veterans Remembrance Service.
Keynote speaker Vito Pinto, a former Westchester County legislator and the current director of the county’s Veterans Service Agency, said America has “a longstanding history of defending liberty and democracy throughout the world” through the efforts of the men and women of the armed forces.
“We have the duty to honor those who made the supreme sacrifice throughout the wars and conflicts in which our nation has been engaged,” said Pinto, a Vietnam War veteran who served as a Navy flight officer.
He noted that there are eight cemeteries in Westchester that have buried 11 Medal of Honor recipients.
“What makes ordinary men react in the face of danger?” Pinto asked. “What is the value of life to those knowing that facing the enemy might cost them the very life they so preciously valued?
“We have a duty to remember and respect their feats of valor. We must also reflect on their deeds and the results they had on their fellow servicemen and families.”
The names of Westchester’s 11 deceased Medal of Honor recipients were read by Deputy County Executive Kevin Plunkett. Names of county residents who lost their lives serving in Iraq and Afghanistan were read by John Creskey, commander of American Legion Post 1038 in Valhalla.
“There are 17 on the list. God willing, no more,” he said.
Mount Pleasant Police Chief Paul Oliva recalled taking part in arranging the funeral of New Fairfield, Conn. resident Todd Lobraico last year. He lost his life in Afghanistan while serving in the Air Force reserves. Through Oliva’s work on the motorcycle patrol he became friendly with Lobraico’s family.
The funeral procession ended in Sherman, Conn. where Lobraico was buried. Oliva said he was moved by the signs held by people honoring the fallen servicemen and women along the route.
“It turned out to be such a gift to me,” Oliva said.
White Plains Mayor Thomas Roach, the son of a Navy officer and the nephew of a Vietnam veteran, said they returned home following their service while many others did not. He said he regularly thinks of those who sacrificed when he walks past his city’s war memorial in the lobby of city hall.
“Every day I walk in the building I am reminded of the sacrifices of all the men and women who gave their lives, from the Battle of White Plains up to today, so we all might live in freedom,” Roach said.
