WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES MAY 23, 2019 17
Maspeth youth and veterans honor fallen
BY MARK HALLUM
MHALLUM@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@RIDGEWOODTIMES
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 flag 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.
MEMORIAL DAY
Tom Vanetten carries the American fl ag as an Honor Gurad in the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 32 during Monday night’s vigil for fallen
soldiers in Maspeth Memorial Park. Photo: Mark Hallum/QNS
Photo: Mark Hallum/QNS Photo: Mark Hallum/QNS
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