Broad Channel Honors Memorial Day

By Dan Guarino

On Sunday, May 25, Broad Channel residents gathered to remember and honor those who had fallen in service to their country and the island community.

Memorial Day observances began as members of the Channel’s American Legion Post 1404 and Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 260 arrived at Christ Presbyterian Church by the Sea on Noel Road for 9 a.m. services. Once inside, veterans, congregants and community members filled the pews, whose fixtures were decorated with winding strands of red and white roses.

“We’re here to honor those who made the supreme sacrifice,” noted Legion Post Commander Denis McEneaney before reading off the names of those residents lost in World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam. Poignantly added to each name was the Broad Channel road they lived on, after which a bell was sounded in their memory.

Outside the church, the random passing of a volunteer fire engine siren mingled with the sound of “Taps” being played, connecting past and present, those who protect and serve, the nation and the community.

At the end of services, pastor Reverend Victoria Moss asked for a blessing “for all this morning. Especially those who have died in defense of this country.”

Both veterans’ groups joined parishioners across Church Road at St. Virgilius RC Church for 10 a.m. Mass. The VFW and American Legion color guard led the way down the aisle to the front of the church, where Father Chux Okochi announced, “I am so happy our veterans are here with us today.”

“Sometimes we take it for granted,” he said, “the gift we have. The gift of freedom.”

During services, the Legion’s McEneaney called for all veterans to “please rise,” which was met with rousing applause from the congregation. Then, the roll call of Broad Channel’s fallen was read out, followed by the call of “Absent” after each name, and sounding of the bell. The playing of “Taps” at the end brought tears to many eyes. Services ended with the Prayer to St. Michael, patron saint of, among others, police officers, firefighters and soldiers.

The color guard, VFW and Legion veterans and members then processed out, as the church’s New Life Choir sang “America the Beautiful.”

Across Noel Road, the Broad Channel Volunteer Fire Department (BCVFD) began its own remembrance services at 11 a.m. Officers, former chiefs, and firefighters in crisp dress uniforms snapped to attention as their color guard, a flagbearer flanked by two firefighters bearing upturned axes, moved forward to present the American flag. Ceremonial wreaths were placed next to it.

BCVFD Chief of Department George Conklin presided over the ceremony, which began with an invocation by Father Okochi. “Great and loving God,” he said, “you have called (many) to serve, in different ways, at different times.”

In tribute to those who had answered their “Last Alarm,” a list of all department members who had passed away was read aloud. Going back to its founding over a century ago, it included both female and male members, where a bell was rung after each group, as well as former department chiefs and chaplains, concluding with the line of duty deaths of Chief Christian Hoobs, who died in 1917 of a heart attack while responding to a fire, and Captain Robert Nussburger, who passed away in 2024 from illness contracted while responding to the World Trade Center attacks on 9/11. The bell itself originally rang out above the firehouse calling volunteers and their then horse drawn equipment out to protect the Broad Channel community.

At 12:45 p.m., BCVFD, VFW and Legion members, along with State Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato and Congressman Gregory Meeks, joined residents young and old at 17th Road Park. Many veterans grouped together to take photos and remember friends lost.

A short ceremony dedicated to those who had “fought the good fight” followed which included a rifle salute and concluded with “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

At 1 p.m., the Channel’s Memorial Day parade, a few hundred strong, stepped off, marching northward in a Cross Bay Blvd. lane secured by NYPD 100th Precinct officers. Along the way, groups of residents greeted the marchers, took photos, waved flags and applauded as they went by.

The parade, which stretched several blocks and included BCVFD emergency vehicles, concluded with a ceremony at George Riekers Veteran’s Memorial Park near East 6th Road.

“This Memorial Day weekend is no idle ceremony for us,” Congressman Meeks told the crowd there, remarking that his own father was a World War II veteran. “Millions of Americans fought here and across the world to defend our freedom.”  In heartfelt tones, he said, “They made these sacrifices for a day they would never see.” But “we will never take our freedom for granted.” He also pledged to have two flags now flying over the Washington DC Capitol brought to fly over Broad Channel.

Assemblywoman Pheffer Amato, noting the uniqueness of how the community comes together to honor its fallen, vowed to continue to fighting for “our veterans, their families, our rights and our freedoms.”

After the ceremony, all were invited back to the VFW post on nearby Shad Creek Road for an afternoon barbecue in its spacious backyard overlooking Jamaica Bay. Raffles were also held to fund installing flags on all poles in Broad Channel.

Inside the VFW, due to the sometimes-brisk weather, volunteers were already entertaining several dozen invited disabled veterans. They were treated to hot dogs, hamburgers and lively acoustic music from The Butchers duo, before later heading back on buses to the VA St. Albans health facility.

As the day wound down, Broad Channel had once again honored the living remembered those who were no longer with them to celebrate, and paid homage to all those who sacrificed to protect their past, present and future.

Photos by Dan Guarino.