The rain forced Verona to move its Memorial Day ceremony inside this year, where participants crowded both the ground floor of Town Hall and the second floor balcony.
The grand marshals of this year’s event were Michael Coppola and Joseph Ruggiero, both of whom served in World War II. Ruggiero served as a combat medic for the 51st Medical Battalion in Africa and Italy, earning seven service stars for his efforts during the war. In 2015, he was honored for his service by the Warrior Watch Riders. Coppola served in the U.S. Navy and again in the Korean War. He was awarded the American Theater medal, the Victory medal, the European Theatre medal and the Sea Bee insignia. Coppola is known by many Verona residents for marching in the Memorial Day parades every year wearing his Navy uniform.
The ceremony added two names to the township’s honor roll, but they were not recent combat deaths. Michael Personett died as a prisoner of war in the Confederacy’s notorious Andersonville Prison, while Michael Kiefer died in the Civil War’s Siege of Atlanta. Both men had lived in what later became Verona, with Personett part of the family that gave its name to Personette Avenue. Mayor Kevin Ryan, a Vietnam-era veteran, thanked Robert Caruso for the research that has enabled the town to have a fuller picture of the lives of the Verona residents who died in service to their country.
“Since Memorial Day developed at the end of the Civil War and up through the current conflicts in Afghanistan and the Middle East,” Ryan said after the ceremony, “over 1.2 million individuals have died in the line of duty in service to America. While many have often not agreed with or fully supported some of our military engagements this should never be used as an excuse for not honoring those who have served. ”
Photos copyright Mark Fortgang. Used by permission.
