REMEMBER VETERAN’S DAY– November 11, 2003,
Memorial Day 5-26-03—St. Nicholas cemetery– Andy Mylniczenko
It was a bright Monday morning as a lonely figure shuffled out of the cavernous overhead doorway of the maintenance building. As he scanned the finely manicured grounds, his step became quicker, more precise as he marched towards the veterans’ monument situated in the middle of St. Nicholas cemetery. Sgt. Duck Tape expanded his chest with pride, knowing that he and his crew worked very hard to get the grounds this pristine. This hard work will make it easier for the mourners, sympathizers and guests to visit their loved ones, family members and friends who have left for happier hunting grounds. Today was set aside to honor, remember and celebrate our fallen brethren who have given their lives for their country, their families and our hard-earned freedom. We set aside a few hours to show the respect that shall be given our heroes that lie here These soldiers, having given the ultimate sacrifice that any soldier gives, themselves can expect nothing less!
All of our local veteran’s organizations were present . Small American and Ukrainian flags were distributed and placed on the graves of all the veterans laid to rest here.
A special annual ceremony that our post holds sacred is the separate ’Panahyda’ at the three veterans’ gravesites, who were killed in Viet Nam. We do this as a symbolic gesture to recog-nize and remember all the Ukrainian-American veterans, who were killed during wartime. Our post as a group, marches to the grave-sites that are located in the north/central quadrant of the grounds.
After the religious rites were over, our post members gathered at our refreshment/ memorabilia stand, to recall the friends who left us. We also spent some time toasting our fallen brethren, as is our custom.
If you make plans that far in advance, please schedule next Memorial day at St. Nicholas cemetery in your 2004 calendar.
Why are we Post 32?
Several stories have been floating around regarding this question. One of the better ones is that a large portion of the Ukrainian Village in Chicago was inthe 32nd Ward. ( Boy, the politicians and wannabe politicos would love that one, probably started it too.) Another story is that there were 32 original members. Both sound fairly credible and believable, but the simple truth is that the National Headquarters assigned us that number, most likely the next one on their list.
Post Commander’s Message: page 1
Memorial Day parade w/ photo display pages 2&3
What we’ve been doing photo display pages 4&5
Memorial Day St. Nick’s Cemetery w/ photo display.Why are we Post 32? pages 6&7
Smith’s park event w/ photos page 8
Post 32 history page 9
Bishop Seminack Welcome page 10
Thank you ladies, UAV National commander visits, Chicago page 11
Post 32 Officers, Post 32 mission statement, Stefan Wasyluk—in Memoriam page 12