Rockland Co. Legislature Recognizes Somber US Events

From Rockland County Legislature: Rockland County Legislator Phil Soskin is calling attention to two somber anniversaries this week – the 100th anniversary of the entry of the United States into World War I, and the 75th anniversary of the horrific event that came to be known as the Bataan Death March during World War II.

Soskin (D-Monsey), a U.S. Army veteran who served from November 1956 to November 1958, said it is fitting that we remember the sacrifices made by our military men and women, as well as the allies who steadfastly stood with us – as we did with them – during both wars.

“World War I may seem distant, but today in Rockland we continue to live with the reminders of the heroism, bravery and loss suffered locally,” Soskin said. “Last night, for example, we voted to appropriate funding for patriotic observances to several local veterans’ posts, including American Legion Post 859, also known as the Fromm-Maxwell-DeBaun Post, named after John Paul Fromm, Henry DeBaun and William H. Maxwell, all of Suffern and all killed in action in 1918.

“Other post names also commemorate Rockland’s local loss – Leo Laders of Haverstraw; Charles and Raymond Blauvelt of Nyack; Anthony Moscarella of Spring Valley; and John H. Secor of Pearl River,” Soskin said. “All were killed in action or died of war wounds in 1918.

“Thursday, April 6, marks the 100th anniversary of America’s entry into the conflict,” Soskin said. “A total of 86 local names are on the county’s World War I memorial that sits on the mall just out front of the Rockland County Courthouse.”

Soskin was stationed in Verdun, France for several months during his service in the Army, and he spent about 18 months in the country in total. Verdun was the site of a major battle, and the longest-lasting, of World War I. The 1916 fight last nearly a year and took the lives of about 300,00 French and German soldiers.

Soskin said even though it was about 40 years after the end of World War I when he was in Verdun, the trenches dug along the fight lines were still visible and people were warned to keep out of them as live ordnance remained buried throughout the area.

Sunday, April 9, marks another anniversary – the 75th anniversary of the Bataan Death March, so named because thousands of Filipino, along with American, soldiers died after the United States, its forces crippled by starvation and disease, surrendered to the Japanese in the Philippines.

Prisoners were marched some 60 miles, often brutalized, starved and denied water along the way. They were boarded onto trains for transfer to another horrible place, a prison camp. At least two Rockland residents survived the march, according to a recent published report.

Soskin asked for a moment of silence last night during the Legislature’s meeting.

“We should all pause and offer our gratitude to those who put our nation’s uniform on during these wars and fought to protect the values of freedom and democracy,” Soskin said.

Image via Pixabay