Peters Township veteran reminds about meaning of Memorial Day
Mark Nave gave the keynote address during the Memorial Day observance at Veterans of Foreign Wars Memorial Park Post 764 in Peters Township.
VFW members Dennis Hixson, left, and Bill Snedeker were among those giving a 21-gun salute.
Raising the flag is Scott Huenefeld, Post 764 commander.
Greeting those in attendance at Post 764 is Dom DeFranco, past state VFW commander, with Mark Nave to his right.
Playing “Taps” is Peters Township High School senior Jordan Ranallo.
Joe Orient presented VFW Patriot’s Pen awards to two Peters Township Middle School students, Jenna Pacich and Jasmine Thompson.
Jenna Pacich reads her winning essay for the VFW Patriot’s Pen Award, “What Freedom Means to Me.”
Jasmine Thompson shows off her VFW Patriot’s Pen Award.
VFW Post 764 member Bill Snedeker marches in the Peters Township Memorial Day parade.
Watching the parade are Rachel and Kurt Harpold with sons Garrett, 6, and Nolan, 3.
Watching the parade are Izzy and Nikko Whaley, ages 5 and 2, with mom Tiffany watching them.
Izzy Whaley flashes a patriotic smile.
A visitor to the United States in late May could get the impression that our primary purpose for Memorial Day is the likes of picnics, pool openings and appliance sales.
“I like to go to cookouts and barbecues. I like to go boating on the river with my family,” Mark Nave admitted as he addressed the crowd gathered Monday morning at Veterans of Foreign Wars Memorial Park Post 764 in Peters Township.
“But I’m never able to get too excited on Memorial Day,” he explained. “You see, it’s personal to me. This is a day when I remember six classmates of mine at the U.S. Naval Academy who were lost on active duty.”
Nave, a Peters resident who served with distinction in the Navy and as of Monday was a commander in the Navy Reserve, was keynote speaker for the VFW post’s annual Memorial Day program, which was preceded by a parade along East McMurray Road.
A Naval flight officer whose squadrons conducted surveillance, reconnaissance and support on both sides of the Atlantic, Nave was quick to remind those in attendance exactly what Memorial Day means to Americans.
“If you can remember only one thing, please remember today is not about current members of the military,” he said. “It’s not about veterans. It’s not about this post we are visiting today. It’s about one thing and one thing only: honoring those who died while serving on active duty in the U.S. armed forces.”
The number of men and women in that category has risen to 1,354,664 with the May 3 death in Iraq of Navy Special Warfare Operator First Class Charles Keating IV, who was 31.
Nave pointed out that American adults his age or younger are becoming “significantly less likely to have a sibling, a parent, a spouse or a personal connection to a veteran.”
“So what does this mean to all of us?” he said. “Will there be fewer flags planted by caring volunteers on Memorial Day? Will there be fewer enlistees in the armed forces? Will the cultural and political gaps between those who serve and those who don’t widen further? I don’t know the answers to these questions, but I certainly hope they’re worth considering on a day like today.”
Monday, he revealed, happened to be the last day he donned his Navy uniform before retiring as a reservist.
“I will never forget those whose final day in uniform ended much differently than mine,” Nave said. “Their final day in uniform led to a flag being presented to a loved one at a memorial service.
“To those veterans who paid the ultimate price, I say one thing: Thank you.”