Red Devil Ramblings

I have just posted up Jack Burns’ letter under his BLOG, “Gateway to the Highlands, May, 2008″ and it stirred up some memories of my own. Peekskill, it seems to me, was always big on parades. I also can remember an open touring car that carried one or two Civil War veterans along Washington Street an along to the Monument Memorial Column on Highland Ave. That was a long, long time ago. The parade routes included Washington Street in those days. We lived on Washington Street, right around the corner from Franklin Street. Everyone had a front porch in those days and it was great to sit there and watch the marchers go by with the bands playing and the flags flying. I guess the traffic got too heavy or the marchers got winded. The earliest parade that I can remember participating in was when I was in the 5th grade at Franklin Street School. I have a picture of my class, which for some unknown reason showed us all dressed up in Dutch boys and girls traditional dress. I remember running back to the school yard when it broke up as we knew that there would be ice cream cones waiting for us. Later on I marched with the Boy Scouts of Troop 1 and finally as a member of “The Truck” hook and ladder fire company. I must say we looked splendid in our marching uniforms and traditional white hats!! I’ll bet they still are the best in the parade.
Of course in the later years most of the parades ended up in Depew Park which was probably a better idea. Still, even when they changed the parade route, as an adult I lived on Liberty Street where various bands and marchers would form up in front of our home and we would be treated to their warm up sessions, they couldn’t wait to start marching and playing so we got to listen to a lot of good band music.
I often visit my own “Fallen Heroes” web pages http://www.peekskillhighalumni.net/html/FallenHeroes-html/fallen_heroes.html and spend time reading again about those young men who gave the full measure and lived such short lives. John “Shagger” Walsh, Gilbert Singer, and Al Rasmus were in my Class of 1940. I knew “Red” Roe who was in the class of 1938. They and many others were killed in WW II. We also honor those from Korea and Viet Nam. If there are any additions to be made from the Gulf War and now Iraq, I do not know of them. Hopefully there are none to be named. Not all of those named on the pages were graduates from PHS but they must have been from the Peekskill area. We would really like to hear more about them from anyone who had even a brief encounter with these brave young men.
When I first heard that there was an internet address where I could send the names of Viet Nam casualties and receive the “rubbings” from The Wall, I put an email letter together with all of the names. I not only received the rubbings that you see on the Viet Nam page but also a personal letter from the lady who (strictly as a volunteer and without any payment) said that she was doing them as a group and was overwhelmed by the number of casualties from Peekskill and wound up in tears before she could complete the task. I have visited The Wall several times. Anyone who has stood beside it is humbled and not able to speak. It is a common sight to see a person simply put his or her hand on a name and just bow their head in silent prayer.
On a trip to Great Britain I visited the cemetery in Cambridge. That one is dedicated to American airmen who were lost, many of which are simply listed as missing in action. Even found the band leader Glenn Miller listed there. We visited Coventry where the cathedral/church was totally destroyed and there is a mounted extremely burnt and charred large wooden cross which was salvaged and mounted as a memorial. The churches in Britain and Europe are replete with monuments to the casualties from the immediate region. We saw the remnants of the pillboxes on the cliffs of Dieppe as a grim reminder of what those brave soldiers faced on D-Day
More recently Doris and I walked the paths of the now completed tribute to all World War 2 veterans in Washington DC. It is truly magnificent. There are always many people walking the pathways but there is an overpowering stillness, except for the sounds of the fountains. posted 6/2008-Ron Abbey