Boynton honors its veterans
Memorial Day represents more than a three-day weekend that marks the unofficial start of summer, Stan Gavlick reminded people gathered under a blazing Sunday afternoon sun.
“My friends, this is Memorial Day weekend, and let us remember the meaning of this day,” Gavlick said. “It’s not about baseball, beaches, hot dogs or shopping for bargains. It’s about all those men and women in our military who gave up their lives to keep our great country safe.”
Gavlick, who calls himself “a young 8 6, ” s e r ve d i n Kore a , and today holds the title of commander of Korean War Veterans Chapter 17. Around him stood or sat veterans from World War II and Vietnam.
Each year there are fewer surviving veterans of the mid-20thcentury conflicts to mark an occasion like this, but dozens of service members and people honoring them came together on this afternoon.
Volunteers helped make sure the graves of veterans received fresh flags at Boynton Beach Memorial Park. Boy Scouts took part in the ceremony.
“We are grateful,” said Boynton Beach Mayor Steven B. Grant. “We should be proud of what they did for us.”
There was special recognition for a host of organizations: Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion, Jewish War Veterans, Disabled American Veterans, Forty and Eight, and veterans of World War II’s Battle of the Bulge and submarine service.
In 2010, a new memorial in Boynton Beach recognized veterans who served in Korea. In that year, Joe Green pointed to a place on a map called the “Punchbowl.” That’s where the Army veteran said he sustained a concussion in a blast that also put casts on both legs.
The Punchbowl was the name given to the bowl-shaped Haean-myon valley in Yanggu County, Gangwon Province. There were numerous brutal battles there in 1951, including the Battle of Bloody Ridge, Battle of Heartbreak Ridge and Battle of the Punchbowl.
He was wounded in a war that wasn’t officially called a war when it began and never formally ended.
“We def i ni t ely di dn’t get a parade,” said Green, then 76. “They kept trying to say it wasn’t a war.”
Memorial Day has its roots in the years after the U.S. Civil War, when it sometimes was called Decoration Day.
A separate official holiday, Veterans Day, originally honored World War I veterans on Nov. 11, though it was later expanded to cover all veterans. By 1971, the federal government moved the dates of several holidays including Memorial Day to create more uniform three-day weekends.
But it should be more than a weekend of frivolity, Gavlick said.
“It’s a day to remember those who died to keep us safe, “he said. “If you see a service person, thank them for their service.”