In Summit Hill, ‘a two-part call to duty’

“Memorial Day must be for us a two-part call to duty,” said Bruce Frassinelli, the speaker at the service on Monday in Summit Hill’s Ludlow Park.

The first is “to pay proper honor and respect to those who made the supreme sacrifice to our country.” The second is “to do our part by participating in our democracy and defending the rights and privileges accorded to all Americans by the U.S. Constitution.”

Frassinelli a former Summit Hill resident who spent nearly 60 years in the communications and education fields, is the son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Phillip Frassinelli.

He discussed growing up in the Hilltop community and the sacrifice of service.

“And when the call came to fight our country’s enemies in 1941, when I was a boy of 2, many of our young men went off to war, and again in 1950, when I was 11, they left for Korea. Then, there were the more recent wars: Vietnam, the two Gulf wars, Afghanistan and Iraq. Some died in battle, some came back with lifelong disabilities, and some tried to pick up where they had left off.”

Frassinelli said he is proud of his two brothers who served in the military. His late brother, Jack, was a U.S. Navy pilot after graduating from Summit Hill High School in 1943, and Charlie, still a resident of Summit Hill, served with the U.S. Army after he graduated in 1948.

Originally called Decoration Day, Frassinelli remembered the family grocery store adorned in red, white and blue bunting and American flags, with services at the St. Joseph’s Cemetery in White Bear. Now he said, “Too often the significance of Memorial Day gets lost in the shuffle of our busy lives.

“I have detected a new respect for those who serve our country. It seems to have started in earnest after 9/11 when we came to the realization that the men and women in our military, along with police officers, firefighters and first responders need our applause and affirmation, not our neglect and condemnation.

“Let us continue that support for those who put themselves in harm’s way to protect our freedoms, our lives and our property that we cherish so deeply.”

Davis-Lawton-Yurko-Breslin-Bevich American Post 316 presented the program, with student speakers Keith McCall, Brian Smith and Katrina Horvath, all Marian Catholic High School students.

McCall read the Gettysburg Address, Smith offered Logan’s General Order and Horvath presented “In Flanders Field.”

Gregory Miller, chaplain of Post 316, read a roll call of deceased veterans, followed by a gun salute.

At the conclusion of the ceremony, John Majez, 90, who was grand marshal of the borough’s annual Memorial Day parade, rang the large school bell in Ludlow Park to signal the start of the parade.