Remembering each and every one of the fallen

GLEN RIDGE, NJ — Glen Ridge families and friends gathered Monday, May 29, at Ridgewood and Bloomfield avenues, for their Memorial Day of Remembrance.

For the small community, it was possible for the names of the dead from every war to be read aloud. Paul Weissenberger, the program coordinator for the day’s events, read the names at the war memorial near Ridgewood Avenue School.

When he finished reading the casualties from wars, Girl Scouts placed wreaths at the appropriate memorial, either near the school or across the street near the public library. A total of 48 Glen Ridge residents lost their lives in World War I, World War II, the Korean and Vietnam wars.

Welcoming the residents, Weissenberger reminded them, “that those that we honor once lived in our homes and played in our parks.”

Sharon DeRosa Smolen sang the National Anthem especially well. She was followed by Pastor Jeff Mansfield, of the Glen Ridge Congregational Church, who gave the invocation.

“God, we come before you and ask you to bless this gathering,” he said. “We come together to honor those who loved freedom more than their own lives.”

The Glen Ridge High School Marching Band, on the library lawn, played “Down by the Sally Gardens,” from a poem by W. B. Yeats. Mayor Stuart Patrick then gave his Memorial Day address which was about the common decency people have for the war dead.

Patrick said one story about the origins of Memorial Day relates how Southerns would care for the graves of Union soldiers out of respect for their families and in the hope that the grave of their loved one, interred in another state, was being looked after.

He said there are 207,600 U.S. war dead, world over, from WWI and WWII, interred or memorialized. Those interred are buried in cemeteries maintained by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).
“What is of great comfort,” Patrick said, “is knowing that virtually all the graves of our war dead, in ABMC cemeteries, have been adopted by local families.”

Mansfield returned to offer a Prayer of Remembrance. He asked God to remind us that Glen Ridge soldiers, who died on distant shores, were our neighbors and remain so.

“We are grateful for all they have taught us, turning our swords into plows and our spears into pruning forks,” Mansfield said.”

The parade down Ridgewood Avenue has, for 10 to 15 years, been the responsibility of the Kiwanis Club of Glen Ridge, according to Jim O’Grady, the outgoing program coordinator.

This year marked the initiation for Weissenberger who credited O’Grady
for a “good road map.”

“There are a lot of moving pieces,” O’Grady said. “This year there were about 15 organizations. There were enough participants who knew the drill. They know when to show up.”

But there would be a sizable gap between a parade of vintage cars and the rest of the marchers far behind them.
“Little kids set the pace of the parade,” Weissenberger said.