Memorial Day

Batavia's annual Memorial Day Parade followed its traditional route down Main Street from Eastown Plaza to Bank Street this morning.

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Photos by Steve Ognibene

Various veteran organizations in Genesee County honoring the 35 Batavians at the W.W.I. memorial in Williams Park this morning.  More continued coverage throughout the day honoring fallen soldiers on Memorial Day.

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Photos by Steve Ognibene

Members of the VFW Chapter 1602, American Legion 332 and Glenn S. Loomis VVA 193, met this morning at Genesee County Park to honor Vietnam Veterans on Memorial Day.  The guest speaker was Dan Burling, VFW post surgeon, Alexander VFW 6239.

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Photos by Steve Ognibene

Area veterans gathered at the Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines Monument, also known as the Upton Monument, in Batavia this morning for a placing of a wreath on the monument in honor of Genesee County's war dead.

It is one of several Memorial Day services today.  The Batavian will have more coverage of the various parades and ceremonies.

Photos by Howard Owens

Residents from throughout Western New York gathered in Pembroke on Sunday to honor the nation's fallen heroes in a ceremony at the WNY National Cemetery.

Photos by Nicholas Serrata 

Tomorrow, Memorial Day, is the day our nation honors the men and women who sacrificed their lives to help secure and protect our rights to individual liberty, to hold our own beliefs and define our own lives.

Here's a reminder of ceremonies and events taking place in Genesee County for Memorial Day:

• 7 a.m. – Vietnam Veterans Memorial at Genesee County Park, sponsored by the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 193.
• 8 a.m. – Williams Park (Batavia) W.W.I Memorial. This memorial honors the 35 Batavians who gave their lives in WORLD WAR I.
• 8:30 a.m. - Batavia VA, at the main flagpole, sponsored by the VAMC.
• 8:45 a.m. (approx.) - NYS Veterans Home, at the main flagpole, sponsored by the NYS Veterans Home.
• 9:30 a.m. – Veterans Plot on Harvester Avenue. This memorial honors all war dead of all wars in Elmwood and St. Joseph’s Cemeteries.
• 10 a.m. - Upton Monument. This monument honors the dead of the Civil War, and all wars since.
• 10:30 a.m. – UMMC Jerome Center. This is the site of the Genesee County War Memorial, honoring all war dead from Genesee County.

Town ceremonies and parades:

• ALEXANDER: Ceremony to take place at the Alexander Village Cemetery (a.k.a. Railroad Avenue Cemetery) at 11 a.m.
• BATAVIA:  Parade starts at 9:30 a.m., beginning at the East Town Plaza, traveling west along Main Street and ending at Alva Place.
• BERGEN:  Ceremony to take place at Hickory Park at 9:30 a.m.
• BYRON:  Ceremony to take place at Byron Cemetery at 11 a.m.
• CORFU:  Parade at 12 p.m. from Corfu Fire Hall on Route 33 to the Intermediate School on Route 77.  Ceremony immediately following the parade.
• ELBA:  Ceremony at Maple Lawn Cemetery at 10 a.m.
• LEROY:  Parade at 10:30 a.m. from the American Legion to Trigon Park with a ceremony at Trigon Park at 11 a.m. immediately following the parade.

Press Release:

The following is the schedule of events and activities being conducted this Memorial Day, Monday, May 29 by Botts-Fiorito Post #576, American Legion:

7 a.m. -  Placement of flags on Main Street (Commander and small work detail)

7:30 a.m. - Memorial ceremony for deceased veterans at St. Francis Cemetery (Color Guard only participates with the Knights of Columbus at Mass).

8 a.m. - Memorial ceremony for deceased veterans at Machpelah Cemetery (Color Guard and Firing Squad)

8:45 a.m. - Firing Squad join the Color Guard at St. Francis Cemetery for Ceremony at Veteran's Monument in Cemetery.

9:45 a.m. - Form up at the American Legion parking lot for Annual Memorial Parade.

10:30 a.m. - Parade "Steps off"

11 a.m. - Memorial Day program at the Trigon Park Memorial

• Introduction and Welcome by Commander David A. Rumsey
• Invocation by Post Chaplain Gary Bassett
• National Anthem sung by Mrs. Mary Brady
• Introduction of the 2023 “Poppy Girl”- Ms. Quincey Williams
• Speaker: Rev. Jim Ruddy, Pastor Living Waters Church
• Reading of list of deceased veterans who have passed away in the past year with the placement of Memorial flag for each veteran.
• Playing of "Taps" followed by Firing Squad volley
• Benediction and closing by Post Chaplain Gary Bassett
• Singing of “God Bless America” led by Mary Brady and the combined LeRoy High School bands.

11:45 a.m. - DISMISS

Hot dogs (Zweigles) and soft drinks free to all after Parade at the Legion Post Home, 53 West Main St., Le Roy, immediately following the parade.

Press Release:

Sunday, May 28

Western New York National Cemetery (WNYNC) 1254 Indian Falls Road, Corfu. Hosted by Western New York National Cemetery Memorial Council, Inc. Ceremony begins at 2 p.m. at the Main Flag Ceremonial site.

Monday, May 29

All ceremonies will include full military honors: Wreath Laying, Rifle Salute & Taps.

Batavia ceremonies:

• 7 a.m. – Vietnam Veterans Memorial at Genesee County Park, sponsored by the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 193.
• 8 a.m. – Williams Park (Batavia) W.W.I Memorial. This memorial honors the 35 Batavians who gave their lives in WORLD WAR I.
• 8:30 a.m. - Batavia VAMC, at the main flagpole, sponsored by the VAMC.
• 8:45 a.m. (approx.) - NYS Veterans Home, at the main flagpole, sponsored by the NYS Veterans Home.
• 9:30 a.m. – Veterans Plot on Harvester Avenue. This memorial honors all war dead of all wars in Elmwood and St. Joseph’s Cemeteries.
• 10 a.m. - Upton Monument. This monument honors the dead of the Civil War, and all wars since.
• 10:30 a.m. – UMMC Jerome Center. This is the site of the Genesee County War Memorial, honoring all war dead from Genesee County.

The names of county veterans who have died since the previous Memorial Day will be read and a flag placed to honor each of them in front of the memorial.

Memorial services will be carried out by Veness-Strollo Veterans of Foreign Wars Post #1602, Glenn S. Loomis American Legion Post #332, and Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter #193.

Town ceremonies:

• ALEXANDER: Ceremony to take place at the Alexander Village Cemetery (a.k.a. Railroad Avenue Cemetery) at 11 a.m.
• BATAVIA:  Parade starting at 9:45 a.m. beginning at the East Town Plaza traveling west along Main Street and ending at Alva Place.
• BERGEN:  Ceremony to take place at Hickory Park at 9:30 a.m.
• BYRON:  Ceremony to take place at Byron Cemetery at 11 a.m.
• CORFU:  Parade at 12 p.m. from Corfu Fire Hall on Route 33 to the Intermediate School on Route 77.  Ceremony immediately following the parade.
• ELBA:  Ceremony at Maple Lawn Cemetery at 10 a.m.
• LEROY:  Parade at 10:30 a.m. from the American Legion to Trigon Park with a ceremony at Trigon Park at 11 a.m. immediately following the parade.

No parade or ceremonies for the following towns:

• Alabama
• Bethany
• Darien
• Oakfield
• Pavilion
• Pembroke
• Stafford

As part of its Memorial Day observance, the Town of Byron honored Steve Vernaccini, a 99-year-old World War II veteran.  The Byron-Bergen High School band played the Star-Spangled Banner and Taps.

Photos and information submitted by Tamara Hillabush Walker.

Article and photos by Glenn Adams.

The Bethany Fire Department hosted a Memorial Day Celebration at the Genesee County Park Monday morning.

The service began at 7 a.m.

Veterans and their families gathered to reminisce and remember those who had fallen in the line of duty.

Coffee and doughnuts were provided by the fire department.

The featured speaker was Assemblyman Steve Hawley, who spoke about our country's stand against tyranny. He reminded us that freedom is not free: It is bought with a price.

A wreath was placed at the memorial, followed by the gun salute and the playing of taps.

Batavia residents display the Stars and Stripes year around for the most part but in honor of Memorial Day, here is a sampling of some of those displays.

Top photo: Chestnut Street.

Kibbe Avenue

Otis Street

Elm Street

Fisher park

Vine Street

Vine Street

Vine Street

Vine Street

North Street

North Street

UMMC

North Street

Photos by Howard Owens.

To purchase prints, click here.

More photos after the jump (click the headline)

Photos, continued ... 

Today at the UMMC Jerome Center, the site of the Genesee County War Memorial, veterans and citizens honored all war dead from Genesee County.  

The names of county veterans who have died since the previous Memorial Day were read and a flag placed to honor each of them in front of the memorial.

Memorial services were carried out by Veness-Strollo Veterans of Foreign Wars Post #1602, Glenn S. Loomis American Legion Post #332, and Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter #193.

Photos by Steve Ognibene

To view or purchase prints, click here.

U.S. Air Force airmen stand guard as a Memorial Day vigil at the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, or the Upton Monument, this morning at Ellicott Street and Main in Batavia.

Press release:

Cub Scouts from Pack 6069 and Boy Scout Troop 6069 placed flags in front of the headstones of veterans at the Batavia Historical Cemetery on Thursday, May 26th.   The Troop has been working with the cemetery's historical society several years on this project.  It is a pleasure for the Scouts to provide this service to their community.  Pack 6069 Committee Chairman Brown made sure to take the Cub Scouts to the grave site of Samuel Wood who is buried there.   Sam Wood is the name sake of Iroquois Trail Council's Cub Scout Resident Camp located in Pike, NY.  Sam Wood was the first Eagle Scout recorded in Genesee County.  Boy Scout Troop 6069 is chartered through the 1st Presbyterian Church in Batavia, and Cub Scout Pack 6069 meets at Jackson Primary School.

For the first time since it opened, veterans, family members, and area residents gathered at the WNY National Cemetery in Pembroke to pay tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice on behalf of their country as part of Memorial Day Weekend.

Photos by Alecia Kaus/Video News Service.

Pearl Harbor Day: December 7, 1941

 A Date that will Live in Infamy

When this headline reached Genesee County, people worldwide, especially in the United States, were shocked! The Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Morale was down, and Americans needed something or someone to lift their spirits. That someone would be Jimmy Doolittle and our very own Edward J. (Cichowski) York. Jimmy Doolittle planned a raid on the capital of Japan.   He trained for a B-25 Mitchell twin-engine light to take off from the Navy carrier, the USS Hornet. Eddie York was one of Doolittle's members of the raid on April 18, 1942.   Col. James B. Sweeney, in 1984, 43 years after the 30 seconds over Tokyo, interviewed Colonel York. Here is what he said.

"I was a Squadron Commander at that time. We gathered in a room with General Doolittle, shook hands, shut the door, and he said, 'Gentlemen, we're going to bomb Tokyo.' We thought it was a joke at first. However, he outlined the plan very briefly. He told us, roughly, his plan, his thinking. We would have about 30 days to modify the aircraft, train, and prepare for the raid. I'd like to mention one thing that I've overlooked. That is the tremendous secrecy that had to surround this whole mission. Because if the word got out to the wrong people, it would be a failure, and it would be fatal to the folks that were going on it."

Doolittle's raid was the first attack against the Japanese homeland in World War II. The Batavia Daily News headlines read,

BATAVIA FLYER HELPED IN AIR RAID ON JAPS

Captain E.J. York Ranks with Nation's No. 1

Heroes after Daring Flight. 

 May 20, 1942.

The sixteen B-25 Mitchell bombers dropped high explosive bombs on oil refineries, steelworks, factories, and electrical power plants. The raiders could bomb their targets but were running low on fuel after thirteen hours in the air. Eleven of the pilots told their crew to abandon the planes. Most of the crews were able to parachute without injury. One raider was killed in a hard landing, one crew member was captured, and a pilot and engineer were later executed. Four planes crash-landed and two crewmen died in one of the crashes.

The following headlines from The Daily News state:

TOKYO RAID STORY SAYS BATAVIAN HELD BY REDS

Major E. J. York is the Only One of 16 pilots making a

Safe LANDING

BOMBED JAP BAY AREA.

Drastic Change in Plans Made

Dangerous Misson of 1942 More Dramatic

Here is what Colonel York recalls about the bombing.

"We'd been trained to pull the airplane up to 1500 feet before dropping bombs because the concussion was apt to cause damage to the airplane. At the proper time, I pulled the thing up to 1500 feet, dropped the bomb and I immediately pushed back down and forgot about staying there until the bombs went off. So we were rocked a little bit but no damage. By this time, I'd made up my mind not to go to China but to go to Siberia because of technical difficulties. I knew we were fighting on the same side in the war. 'According to international law, you must be interned.' I thought to myself, 'Oh damn, we're going to be here two or three days.' Well, the interment took place and we were still there 14 months later, at which time we got out. Eventually, we got back to the United States."

By 1945 York and his wife, Mary Elizabeth and their children resided in San Antonio, Texas. His military life did not end in Texas. The next headline on July 14, 1945, read;

LIEUTENANT COLONEL YORK NAMED AIR ATTACHE AT WARSAW, POLAND; FLYING TO NEW POST NEXT MONTH.

For the next 18 months, Edward and his family resided in Warsaw, Poland. His ability to speak Polish and Russian helped troubled Poland set up a provisional government of national unity in Warsaw. In addition, his work won the recognition of the United States, Great Britain, and Russia.

He returned to the U.S. in 1947 and was assigned as commandant of the Air Force Officer Candidate School.  For the next 22 years, Colonel York had various assignments that took him to different countries and states. His military career spanned more than 30 years.

He served as air attaché to Denmark, serving as chief of the Air Force Section for the Military Assistance Advisory Group in Copenhagen, Denmark, chief of the Air Attaché Branch at Headquarters U.S. Air Force in the Pentagon, chief of staff for Headquarters Western Transport Air Force at Travis AFB, California, commander of an ICBM Site Activation Task Force at Larson AFB, Washington and chief of staff at Headquarters U.S. Air Force Security Service at Kelly AFB, Texas. He served as deputy commander at Headquarters U.S. Air Force Security Service from June 1966 until he retired from the Air Force on September 2, 1966. A military attaché is a military expert attached to a diplomatic mission (an attaché).     

Edward J. Cichowski was born on August 16, 1912, in Batavia, NY.  He was the son of Ignatius and Tekla Cichowski.  In 1905 his father, a Polish immigrant, arrived in the United States. Edward grew up at 101 Harvester Ave. He graduated from Batavia High School at fifteen in June 1928.   After high school, he joined the Army and later attended the United States Military Academy at West Point. He graduated in 1938 and immediately transferred to the Air Force and began flying at Randolph Field, TX. He was nicknamed York because he was from New York and it was probably easier to say than Cichowski.

On August 31, 1984, at the age of 72, retired Air Force Colonel York died in his home in San Antonio, Texas, of an apparent heart attack. He was buried at the Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio, Texas. He earned many decorations, including the Distinguished Flying Cross, Legion of Merit, the Chinese Army, Navy, and Air Corps Medal, and Class A, 1st Grade.            His Distinguished Flying Cross Citation reads: 


For extraordinary achievement while participating in a highly destructive raid on the Japanese mainland on April 18, 1942. Captain York volunteered for this mission, knowing that the chances of survival were extremely remote, and executed his part in it with great skill and daring. This achievement reflects high credit on Captain York and his military service.

The Veterans Services Office released the following schedule for Memorial Day events, May 29 and May 30:

SUNDAY, May 29, 2022: Western New York National Cemetery (WNYNC) 1254 Indian Falls Road, Corfu, NY

• The ceremony begins at 1400hrs.(2 p.m.) at the Main Flag Ceremonies site.

MONDAY, May 30, 2022
All ceremonies will include full military honors: Wreath Laying, Rifle Salute & Taps.

• 7:00 a.m. – Vietnam Veterans Memorial at Genesee County Park, sponsored by the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 193.
• 8:00 a.m. – Williams Park (Batavia) W.W.I Memorial. This memorial honors the 35 Batavians who gave their lives in WORLD WAR I.
• 8:30 a.m. - Batavia VAMC, at the main flagpole, sponsored by the VAMC.
• 8:45 a.m. (approx.) - NYS Veterans Home, at the main flagpole, sponsored by the NYS Veterans Home.
• 9:30 a.m. – Veterans Plot on Harvester Ave. This memorial honors all war dead of all wars in Elmwood and St. Joseph’s Cemeteries.
• 10:00 a.m. - Upton Monument. This monument honors the dead of the Civil War, and all wars since.
• 10:30 a.m. – UMMC Jerome Center. This is the site of the Genesee County War Memorial, honoring all war dead from Genesee County. The names of county veterans who have died since the previous Memorial Day will be read and a flag placed to honor each of them in front of the memorial.

Memorial services will be carried out by Veness-Strollo Veterans of Foreign Wars Post #1602, Glenn S. Loomis American Legion Post #332, and Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter #193. 

Press Release:

The American Legion Post 576 Memorial Day Monday, May 30 Parade forms at 9:45 a.m. in the Legion parking lot. The parade starts at 10:30 a.m. and proceeds to Trigon Park.

Refreshments at the Legion after the ceremony. Hot dogs and soda

Photo: File photo by Rob Radley from 2917