Veterans Day commemorated in Cedarhurst

Before the Veterans Day Ceremony in Andrew J. Parise Cedarhurst Park began a lone brick inscribed “Clyde Schaffer American Legion Law-Ced Post 339” occupied space on a small table adjacent to the lectern.

Schaffer was more than a name on a brick said friend Mitch Dancyger. “He was a super nice guy, I enjoyed his company all the time,” said Dancyger, who  knew Schaffer for 30 years living on the same Valley Steam street and being fellow Post 339 members. “Just being there for everyone who needed something,” added Dancyger, the post’s 2nd vice commander, saying that no matter what it was, including a ride to the service station to get your car, Schaffer was there.   

It is three years since Schaffer died at 80, but that has not lessened the emotion Dancyger felt for his friend. “We would B.S. four hours and I miss the hell out of him,” Dancyger said with a catch in his throat, when addressing the audience. “Unfortunately, … and I do miss him a lot Sandy,” he added looking at Schaffer’s widow who attended the ceremony.

Held by the park’s war memorial, the remembrance, originally established to commemorate the end of World War I and now celebrates all military veterans had several poignant moments.

Post 339 Commander Syd Mandelbaum said that veterans “served a country in need” and noted that when he was born in 1950, veterans of the Civil War, the Spanish-American War and WWI were still alive.

“We together have made this country stronger,” he said, speaking about his fellow veterans, “and the more we do for the country hopefully more people will be involved in the service of our country.”

With memories of bygone Memorial and Veterans Day parades he watched along Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn, Cedarhurst Mayor Benjamin said that this year is the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II and noted many of the military conflicts through his lifetime from the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in 1961 up to the war against the terrorist group Isis that ended in 2017.

Current events enveloped the words of  Rabbi Claudio Kupchik from Temple Beth El in  Cedarhurst. He expressed appreciation for the veterans service, then launched into saying that “the enemy is not Democrats or Republicans, the enemy is Covid,” noting that the number of new coronavirus cases is “expanding exponentially.”

Calling on political leaders to lead through this time of upheaval, Kupchik said: “We have six long, dark months ahead of us,” waiting for a vaccine, “while our country is headed toward an iceberg. You cannot have our flag without the red and the blue and you cannot have our country without the red and the blue.” In the modern political landscape, red is the color aligned with Republicans and blue is for Democrats, as in red and blue states.  

While Schaffer’s brick started the day alone the rectangular block will be installed the other engraved bricks along the walkway by the war memorial that are dedicated to veterans who served their country. 

The park is named for longtime Cedarhurst mayor, Andrew Parise. A WWII veteran, Parise died in 2015.