Mineola Vets Pay Homage to Pearl Harbor 70th Anniversary

Members of the Mineola Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion travelled to Republic Airport in Farmingdale last week in remembrance of the 70th Anniversary of the attacks on Pearl Harbor.

The five men, among them VFW Commander Manny Grillo, American Legion Commander Sal Catalso, Gabe Parabas and Don Hammond, observed the ceremonies which consisted of a bouquet of 70 red roses (for the 70 years since the Japanese attack) and one white (for all 2,403 lives lost in the attacks) being dropped into the waters of New York Harbor near the Statue of Liberty via plane.

This is the 29th year that the ceremony, called “Dropping the
Roses” has been held.

“Long island has the largest contingent of veterans anywhere,” Hammond said, noting that approximately 800 veterans of WWII pass away each day.

A total of five Pearl Harbor survivors, whose ages ranged from 91 to 93, were present at the ceremony, which took place at the American Airpower Museum.

The veterans present were Richard Abeles (USS Dale), Gerald Barbosa (USS Raleigh), Bernard Bernal (Shofield Barracks), Seymour Blutt (Hickam Field) and Michael Montelione (Schofield Barracks).

A sixth veteran, William Halleran (USS Phoenix), was not present and passed away on Dec. 9, 2011.