OCEAN COUNTY – Despite the threat of rain, the milestone 90th Annual Ocean County Memorial Day Parade went on as scheduled.
While most of the weekend proved warm and sunny, Memorial Day itself featured dark gray skies and periodic rain throughout the day. The 8:30 a.m. rain gave way to a slightly sunny sky without any dampness for the many parade participants and spectators who came out to Main Street in Toms River where the parade kicked off an hour later.
Coordinated by Toms River American Legion Post 129, the parade featured members of the Township Police Department including their Police Chief Mitch Little, State Police Troopers, the Toms River Fire Department and area EMS units.
Noting the very purpose of Memorial Day was a group made up of family and friends that carried a banner honoring Vincent M. Frassetto, a Toms River U.S. Marine veteran who died at the age of 21 on September 7, 2006 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
He was a member of the 1st Battalion, 10th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina and died while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq. It was his first week of missions in the country and his convoy was struck by an improvised explosive device.
The Tin Can Sailors were among several military oriented groups who are always represented at the parade. “We are a bunch of (Naval) destroyer veterans. We had an average of eight minutes in battle because we were assigned to take the torpedoes for the aircraft carrier, the battleship so if we were in a battle we were expected to live for eight minutes,” Chaplain Bill Schmidt of Manchester Township remarked at the lineup point with his fellow members.
Schmidt invited those interested to American Legion Post 129 where the group meets, on Church Road at noon on the third Wednesday of the month, “we have an open meeting and while you are there you can order breakfast or lunch and eat while we conduct our meeting.”
“We have a lot of camaraderie because we have many like experiences and it is not just destroyer veterans even though that is the name of our group, the Tin Can Sailors National Destroyer Association, but we also take in other folks. We have guys who have served on aircraft carriers and supply ships and some station at the Joint Base and a guy who was stationed at a Naval base in Germany. We take in anyone who is interested,” group Commander Jerry Correll said.
Correll added, those interested include, “historians who want to know about destroyer history, history of the Navy and we get together for fellowship at our meetings. We put out information about today’s Navy and we have a good time. People tell their sea stories.” It was noted that while the “Army has a band of brothers, we have the Tin Can Sailors.”
Schmidt added that model builders are also a part of the group as well. “If you are a member of a historical society and want to join us you can do that too or if any of your relatives were in the Navy that is completely acceptable also.”
The United States Jersey Shore Base featured a wooden submarine as part of their entry while the Disabled American Veterans Ocean County Memorial Chapter 24, Toms River, waved to spectators from their float.
Local organizations included the Frontier Girls Troop 633 and Toms River Boy Scouts Troop 20 who carried a large American flag along the parade route. The Toms River East Raider Band performed and the Toms River High School JROTC marched. Toms River High School North Marching Mariners also showcased their talent during the parade.
At 11 a.m. Shore Boros American Legion Post 351 members held their traditional service. Their Seaside Heights post is in the midst of renovation having never recovered from the damage it sustained during Superstorm Sandy in 2012. The front of the building was recently demolished as part of the rebuilding project.
Post Commander William Kevish provided some history about Memorial Day during this year’s ceremony, “the first Memorial Day was not called Memorial Day, it was believed to have been celebrated with a parade with freed slaves and Union soldiers marching through Charleston, South Carolina in 1865.”
“Waterloo, New York is considered the official birth place of Memorial Day because after the town held an observance on May 5, 1866, General John Murray and General John A. Logan called on all communities to honor their war dead every year,” Kevish added.
Kevish told the packed audience present, “Logan had been impressed on how the South had honored their Confederate soldiers for years and in 1868, Logan, who was head of a prominent veteran’s group, Grand Army of the Republic, issued a proclamation that Decoration Day be observed nationwide.”
The date chosen was May 30 “specifically because that was not on the anniversary of any battle and it was a day to honor the fallen veterans of all American wars. The alternative name, Memorial Day wasn’t commonly used until World War II, a two-front fight against tyranny which more than 400,000 Americans servicemen would die,” Kevish said.
The Ortley Beach Voters and Taxpayers Association, American Legion Post 351, Post 351 Auxiliary, Post 351 Sons of the Legion each donated memorial wreaths that were posted at the Post’s memorial display in front of their building later in the day.
In Berkeley, a ceremony was held at Amherst Beach while a Blessing of the Fleet was held in the Barnegat Bay. Both were overseen by the Berkeley Shores Homeowner Association.
Clergy from a local church blessed boats, some of which were decorated patriotically. A wreath was laid upon the water.
The Memorial Day Commemoration was on Amherst Beach. A number of officials and community leaders spoke and the Central Regional ROTC were in attendance.
Chris Lundy contributed to this story
