QUEENS, N.Y.—With the exception of the past two years, when the world was in the throes of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, the New York City neighborhood of Douglaston–Little Neck has had a Memorial Day Parade since 1927.
This year marked a return to the tradition, with an hour-long parade of just over 100 marching units, with about 1,500 people participating.
Veterans Everywhere
Michael Flood, a 77-year-old Vietnam veteran, was one of the parade’s two grand marshals.“It’s a very sad day for me,” Flood told The Epoch Times. He spoke of several of his friends “on the wall,” referring to the Vietnam War memorial in Washington.
“Guys that died over there, right next to me. It was tough coming home. You had survivor’s guilt.”
The second grand marshal, Paul Cheng Jr., missed the event due to health problems brought about by the use of Agent Orange in Vietnam.
In addition to Vietnam, there were veterans from World War II and Korea in attendance.
Things Start Rolling
Just after 2 p.m., a police escort rolled down Northern Boulevard with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 3 Motorcycle Club following behind.“We have a number of combat veterans and old veterans in our club, and it’s just something we do every Memorial Day,” club President Joe DiGrazia told The Epoch Times.
Some of the notable musical units were the NYPD’s and the FDNY’s fife and drums corps, the Army National Guard’s 42nd Infantry Division marching band, and Francis Lewis High School’s marching band and majorettes.
It Takes a Village
A parade of this magnitude takes a lot of planning and a lot of money. Volunteers begin pre-production the previous December, and that includes raising the $50,000 budget, which comes from raffles, donations, and other fundraising events.“It’s a lot of grassroots,” parade Chairman Tom Carty told The Epoch Times.
Even though the area is part of New York City, Douglaston–Little Neck has a small-town feel to it, with the annual parade being its cornerstone.
“Probably on parade day, more than any other day, you really do get a small-town, real community neighborhood feel,” said Carty, who’s the principal at PS/IS 49 in the Middle Village neighborhood of Queens and is currently in his fourth year as chairman.
Politics Not as Usual
There were plenty of politicians on hand—some currently in office and some running this November—but most spoke of the holiday and not of political issues unless asked. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul marched in the parade, surrounded by her entourage.New York City Mayor Eric Adams also marched, but with a smaller group and a marching band, and often stopped along the route to shake hands with spectators on the sidewalk.
New York Attorney General Letitia James marched as well.
(Dave Paone:The Epoch Times)
Defeated New York City Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa and Republican New York gubernatorial hopeful Andrew Giuliani were on hand, meeting and greeting supporters after the parade.
Sliwa and the Guardian Angels have been attending the parade regularly since the early 1990s.
“I’m always out here to show respect and pay sovereign homage to those who died in foreign conflict,” he told The Epoch Times. “Memorial Day weekend is not to put lotion on at the ocean and shop till you drop; it’s to honor our war dead for preserving all the freedoms that we take for granted.”
Giuliani told The Epoch Times: “Today, obviously, I think about all the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for us.
“It’s not about red and blue; it’s about red, white, and blue.”
Although there were no parades during the pandemic in 2020, there was a wreath-laying ceremony and church service in 2021.
No Memorial Day celebration is complete without hot dogs, which the organizers provided to attendees after the parade, free of charge.
“We’ve got a crew at St. Anastasia [Church]. They cook about 3,000 hot dogs every parade day,” Carty said.
Mother Nature cooperated all day, with warm temperatures, low humidity, and abundant sunshine.
Eight-year-old Jacob Chung essentially summed up the day when he told The Epoch Times, “I’m having a lot of fun here.”
