Diamond jubilee celebration for the E.M. VFW

The East Meadow Veteran’s of Foreign War Post 2736 celebrated their 75-year mark on Thursday. The post received the diamond jubilee award from the national headquarters Commander in Chief Hal Roesch. This post was created in September of 1945.

“This is a milestone and a great thing for our post and hopefully we hit 75 years more,” Stephanie Rosetti, post commander said. “We love serving our country and community together. It’s a good thing.”

The ceremony which was tied in with the Veteran’s Day ceremony was short and sweet. Those who attended sat inside in Veteran’s Memorial Park on Prospect Avenue around a table decorated with red, white and blue balloons, talking and eating cake. Robert Caridi, reverend of Neighborhood Assembly of God in Bellmore shared some gospel with the small group as he sat with them.

“God bless you and thank you again for all that you did,” Caridi said. “There are a lot of Americans that still respect you guys.”

Post 2736 is a chapter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, which veterans of the Spanish-American War and Philippine Insurrection founded in 1899 to make sure that veterans received rights and benefits for their service, according to the VFWUS website. The organization, nationwide, has 1.7 million members. The East Meadow post, however, has less than 25 members.

“This is our 75th anniversary and we’ve donated to many causes and even had a large hand in helping create the East Meadow V.A. clinic,” Frank Salamino, the post’s quartermaster said. “But now we need help. We are losing our post slowly.”

Salamino and member Bill Lattarulo joined in 2012 after seeing the other post members walking in the Memorial Day parade.

“Bill said look at those guys over there Frank,” Salamino recalled. “We have to join those old guys over there to help them out.”

Rosetti said people should join so that the post could be more active.

“If more people join we could do more for our country and our community,” she said. “Joining a post like this builds friendship and patriotism. It shows young people what being a veteran is.”

Salamino said a lot of soldiers coming home now don’t have time to join because they have other responsibilities.

“They call up and say they want to come but they have kids and stuff to do and I can understand that because I wasn’t active for a long time,” he said. “It’s beneficial to join, though, we’re all connected to the military.”

The Veteran’s Day ceremony started at 11 a.m. like every other one celebrated and this is by no mistake. The events every year across the United States occur on Nov. 11 at 11 a.m. in honor of the eleventh hour of the eleventh day in the eleventh month of 1918 that signaled the end of World War I.

Veteran’s Day used to be known as Armistice Day. The day officially received its name through a Congressional resolution, according to the United States Department of Veteran’s Affairs website. It became a national holiday 12 years later by similar Congressional action. The day was named armistice in the hopes that World War I would’ve been ‘the war to end all wars,’ the website stated.

Since there have been other years, that was not the case.

The first time the term Veterans Day was used to celebrate was in 1947 by a World War II veteran named Raymond Weeks. In 1954, Congress passed the bill that President Eisenhower signed proclaiming November 11 as Veterans Day.

After post 2736 said the pledge of allegiance, Andy Pfortsch started playing Amazing Grace on his flute. This tradition is done by Pforstch, who at 95 is the oldest member of the post and was a World War II vet, after every Veterans Day celebration. When he couldn’t continue playing, the room erupted in every singing the well-known song.

Legislator Tom McKevitt stopped by with a special citation for the post.

“It’s important to remember two things,” McKevitt said. “You all certainly sacrificed to your country by serving in the various units but when you came back you all served everyone in the post as well too.”

Rosetti said that over her five years of being a member she learned comradeship and loved hearing the stories of the other members.

“Listening to what the others have experienced was always special,” she said. “I’ve always loved getting together.”