10
QUEENS WEEKLY, MAY 26, 2019
Maspeth youth & veterans honor fallen with early Memorial Day vigil
2019 * plus tax and season pass.
BY MARK HALLUM
Tom Vanetten did
not look to any veterans
groups for 38 years after
returning from Vietnam,
but has found a home with
the Vietnam Veterans
of America Chapter 32
where he takes pride in
carrying the American
f lag in the annual vigil
for fallen soldiers in
Maspeth Memorial Park.
Vanetten led the
Honor Guard throughout
the ceremony that has
been taking place in the
triangle at 69th Street
and Grand Avenue
for over 50 years now,
where female civic
leaders carry candles
and students from
nearby schools lead the
attendees in song.
“It was
overwhelming. The best
part about it is it was
interwoven with all the
young people of Maspeth.
They’re the people that
are going to carry on
our great traditions
and they were here to
see us to it now and
sort of get the impetus
that sooner or later in
their lives, they’ll be
in that same position,”
said Ken Rudzewick,
former president
and CEO of Maspeth
Federal Savings,
which helped organize
the vigil.
The vigil is older
than the Maspeth
Memorial Day Parade
itself, started 35 years
ago, and was initially
led by the Women’s
Auxiliary while the
men managed the
parade, according to
Rudzewick.
For Vanetten,
one of the more
significant tasks the
VVA Queens chapter
undertakes is seeing
that indigent veterans
are interred under
proper care.
With many veterans
becoming homeless after
their years of service,
many who die often end up
in Potters Field on Heart
Island where unclaimed
bodies are buried by the
city government.
In 2015, the VVA had
successfully interred
their 100th indigent
veteran in Edsell
Smith, a Marine
who had served from
1972 to 1976.
When a veterans such
as Smith die without any
survivors, the VVA steps
in as next of kin.
Reach reporter
Mark Hallum by
email at mhallum@
schnepsmedia.com or by
phone at (718) 260–4564.
Photo: Mark Hallum/QNS
/schnepsmedia.com
