Limo, doves, children help mark Memorial Day in Pompano Beach

The City of Pompano Beach conducted its annual Memorial Day parade and graveside observance of those military members who died during and after their service. The event drew several hundred people.

At first blush, the black six-door Cadillac, decked out in oversized medallions bearing the names of the five major military services, looked like a presidential limousine as it eased through a Pompano Beach neighborhood during a Memorial Day parade Monday.

But the rolling display was Jon Turner’s way of honoring the nation’s fallen servicemen and women. They included many he knew who died while he was a member of the U.S. Navy in Japan and at the Pentagon.

“I had a lot of comrades that fell in arms during the Iraq war,” said Turner, who owns the limo and operates Family First Professional Services.

Turner was among the incalculable numbers of South Floridians who took the time Monday to honor the lives of more than a million Americans who served their country in the military and made the ultimate sacrifice while fighting in wars around the globe and on the nation’s own soil during the Civil War. The Pompano Beach parade and subsequent cemetery observance was among more than 30 parades, picnics and other events in Broward and Palm Beach counties.

As Turner walked the parade route beside his car from East Atlantic Boulevard to the Pompano Beach Cemetery, he said he lost friends and acquaintances in the Marines who were based in Okinawa, Japan.

“A lot of those guys were stationed on my ship,” he said. “I lost a lot of those guys, and I lost good friends to suicide. So this is my way of honoring them.”

The parade and ceremony, which was organized by the city’s parks and recreation department in collaboration with the public works department, drew several hundred people including city commissioners and other public officials as well as members of the Kiwanis Club, Knights of Columbus, Troop 512 of the Boy Scouts of America and the East Side Democrats, among other organizations.

Music was provided by members of the brass section of the South Florida Symphony; bagpipe player Mark Pinks played strains of  “Amazing Grace.”

“I’ve always tried to take part in this to honor those who served to protect our nation,” said Fred Segal, chair of the Broward Soil and Water Conservation District.

“My father served in the Navy during World War II, my uncle was in the Air Force during Korea,” he added. “And I just feel we need to recognize and honor our veterans for the service they’ve given for the country, and for those who lost their lives in that service.”

Steve Cole, a Knights of Columbus member who served in the U.S. Navy from 1965 to 1970, said he had a twin brother, Arthur, who served in the U.S. Army in Vietnam. He died of cancer in 1981 and had been exposed to Agent Orange, the chemical herbicide and defoliant used by the American military during the war.

Children welcomed

Several parade-goers said it was important that children took the time Monday to participate in the parade and observance.

“It makes me so happy to see so many children here participating in these events,” said Melissa Shiff, a Pompano Beach resident. “I recently had to tell my kids the story of their great-grandfather serving in World War II. We found his dog tags recently.”

Joseph Zanello, who is buried in the Pittsburgh area, served in the U.S. Army, Shiff said.

“It’s something that we need to pass on to the next generation for them to remember and understand the sacrifices that not only the men and women made but the families made, too,” she said.

“It is very gratifying seeing the numbers of kids that we have here this year,” Mayor Rex Hardin told the audience at he cemetery. “It is tremendous that we let the kids know about this kind of event. The kids are our future. And we have to remind them that there are people who have paid the ultimate price for them to be able to do what they do.”

During the ceremony, Hardin and Michael Johansen, committee chairman for the Boy Scout Troop 512, invoked the memory of Andy Buglione, a city community leader, World War II and Korean War veteran and “80-year Boy Scout” who died last September at the age of 95.

Buglione served in the U.S. Merchant Marine between 1943 and 1947, and as a U.S. Army combat engineer between 1950 and 1953 in Korea.

“What a lot of people don’t know is that Andy joined the military at the age of 17,” Johansen said. “He went home, and told his aunt there were school papers he needed her to sign and enlisted in the Marchant Marine.”

“Andy was Pompano Beach’s Paul Bunyan,” Johansen added. “The man lived a life of service and dedication to his community through the church, through veteran’s organizations, the American Legion, the VFW, the Knights of Columbus and especially the Boy Scouts.”

The legacy of people such as Buglione, he said, “is why we are here each year. We honor these people who are no longer with us. As the saying goes, ‘if you’re free, thank the veteran,’ because freedom isn’t free.”

Preserving the memories

Hardin, mindful of the recreational activities that Memorial Day traditionally brings, urged the audience members to convey to their friends the true meaning of the day.

“Talk to a neighbor, and just tell them about what today really means,” he said. “Just let people know. I think people need to be reminded about what this day is all about.”

Minutes later, a flight of 40 white doves was released from the cemetery.