“The Greatest Generation”
Join the community in honoring veterans this Sunday during the annual Baldwinsville Memorial Day Parade.
This year the parade committee will honor World War II veterans.
“This ‘Greatest Generation’ of veterans is comprised of our grandparents and great-grandparents, aunts and uncles and great aunts and uncles,” said Sarah Baker, a member of the Baldwinsville Memorial Day Parade Committee. “They are leaving us all too quickly.”
The parade, which will feature several bands including the Island Band, the Baker High School Band and the Baldwinsville Community Band, as well as community organizations and leaders, will begin at 5 p.m. at the corner of Lock Street and Route 31 and travel to the four corners, then south along Route 48.
Also featured is the 122nd Regiment Infantry (Onondagas) re-enactors, who will march through the streets of Baldwinsville and then station themselves at the Civil War Monument for the Riverview ceremony following the parade and a ceremony at St. Mary’s Cemetery.
“[The ceremonies are] a wonderful opportunity for parents to share the rich history that is part of our community and to share a reverence for those Americans who made it possible for us to gather on the banks of the beautiful Seneca River in a spirit of peace, camaraderie and celebration,” Baker said, noting that not all parade spectators attend the ceremonies. “I think people are missing so much by not going [to the ceremonies]. For our children, this is important. [Our veterans] need to be remembered.”
Grand Marshall and Guest Speaker
Baldwinsville’s Herbert Litterbrant (pictured left), who served in the United States Navy during World War II, has been chosen as this year’s Grand Marshall.
Litterbrant enlisted in the United States Navy in 1940 and attained the rank of First Class Carpenter. He served for six years in England, Newfoundland, Iceland, Puerto Rico, Panama Canal, Africa and the Mediterranean.
He and his late wife, Rose, raised three sons, have five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. He retired from Allied Chemical after 31 years.
Matthew Straub (pictured right), a 1991 Baker High School graduate, has been chosen as this year’s Guest Speaker. A proud native of Baldwinsville, he is the son of Phyllis and the late George Straub.
Straub graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1995, after which he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army in the Field Artillery. Following assignments in various capacities, Straub honorably transitioned from the US Army as a captain and continued to serve as an officer in the Army Reserves. He is again working with the United States Army in his position at Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Sensors in Liverpool. Straub also volunteers as the Central New York West Point admissions liaison officer working with local high school students to prepare and compete for appointments to the United States Military Academy at West Point. He resides in Pompey with his wife, Devon, and their 5-year-old son, Grant Douglas.
President Harry Truman wrote the following to Litterbrant, and other WWII veterans:
{Q}”To you who answered the call of our country and served in its armed forces to bring about the total defeat of the enemy, I extend the heartfelt thanks of a grateful Nation.”{Q}
General Omar Bradley wrote the following to Litterbrant in a letter:
“I congratulate you upon completion of your service in the armed forces and for your part in bringing to a conclusion a two-front war, which resulted in the unconditional surrender of the Axis Powers.”
Parade schedule
4:45 p.m. Placement of Memorial Wreath and raising the colors at the Veteran’s Monument
5 p.m. Parade begins
5:15 p.m. Wreath Ceremony at the bridge over the Seneca River
5:45 p.m. St. Mary’s Cemetery Service at Tappan Street
6:45 p.m. Riverview Cemetery, Tappan Street
- Raising the colors
Placement of the wreaths
“America the Beautiful” performed
Guest Speaker Matt Straub
“Gettysburg Address” recitation by Kevin Thompson, Baker HS student
“In Flanders Fields” recitation by Andrew Giacini, Baker HS student
“Logan’s Orders” recitation by Laura Farleman, Baker HS student
Musical selections by the Baldwinsville Community Band
“Amazing Grace” performed by the David Hunter Pipers
Salute over the graves
Tap
