McTamaney
Sherman
NEWBURGH – The “Day that Will Live in Infamy” was remembered
by a large crowd of mostly veterans, Gold Star Mothers, and several students,
in an outdoor ceremony on the banks of the Hudson River in Newburgh. It
was 75 years ago on December 7, 1941 that Imperial Japan attacked the
U.S. Navy installations at Pearl Harbor, and simultaneously attacked several
other targets in the Pacific and Southeast Asia.
World War II in the Pacific had begun.
Keynote Speaker was David McTamaney, quartermaster of VFW Post 973 in
Newburgh. He wanted a local focus on his message.
“And as I was able to narrow that focus to individuals from our
own county,, who died, I could better who they were and what they did
for me.”
McTamaney said one local name stood out. Robert O. Sherman grew up in
Middletown and while stationed in Hawaii, sent back poetry for a local
newspaper column called “Tanks, Tents and Turrets.” His last
letter arrived on December 6, 1941.
McTamaney read one of his poems, then encouraged more than 100 attending
the ceremony to think of someone they know, or their parents knew.
“So when I think of the guys who died at Pearl Harbor 75 years
ago today, I think of just this one man, and I think of his widowed mom
and his sacrifice becomes a lot more real for me. So I hope you can do
that, too. I hope you can find a name of a man or a woman. There’s
820 of them on the memorial up around the corner from here. Learn who
that person was so you’ll know what he or she gave up for you.”
The 45-minute outdoor ceremony concluded with the traditional tossing
of wreaths into the Hudson River.
