In Hamtramck, we don’t forget about the importance of our vets

By Ian Perrotta

Monday was Memorial Day, and Hamtramck didn’t forget.

As they do every year at this time, the Hamtramck Allied Veterans Council converged on Veterans Memorial Park for a commemorative ceremony to remember the U.S. soldiers who have died during military service.

The day began at noon with the singing of the National Anthem and was followed with prayers by HAVC Chaplain Frank Zacharias and the Rev. Dr. Victor Halboth. After, guests and visiting dignitaries were introduced, including Hamtramck Mayor Karen Majewski, who spoke briefly on the occasion.

“In a time like ours, full of such uncertainty, it’s good to remember that there are some unchanging principles that bind us as a nation,” Majewski said. “Principles worth fighting to maintain and worth dying for.”

Once the mayor’s speech was over, guest speaker Joseph Schaffer gave the keynote address, which was then followed by another brief speech by the Blue Star Gold Mothers’ Florence Nawrocki. There was then a presentation of wreaths by members of each Veterans Association in attendance, a 21-gun salute and the playing of Taps.

After the ceremony, City Councilman Kazi Miah, an immigrant from Bangladesh, weighed in on the importance of celebrating the holiday.

“If it wasn’t for those people who sacrificed their lives, America wouldn’t have been a place where our parents would have wanted to come in the first place,” he said. “Gratitude towards them, I can’t express it – I don’t have enough vocabulary to even acknowledge my appreciation toward this holiday and everyone who sacrificed for this country.”