veteran

Press Release:

On Wednesday January 19, 2022, Batavia resident Chief Warrant Officer-4 Bob Bialkowski US Army (Ret) had the honor and privilege to attend and participate at a funeral in Arlington National Cemetery. I and five other members of a Pilot’s Fraternity from Buffalo attended the funeral of Edward A. Kozlowski, Jr. originally from Buffalo, NY. Ed was a fellow member of our fraternity.

Ed was a highly decorated Army helicopter pilot that had been shot down in Vietnam three times during 1969, once behind enemy lines which required an assault helicopter to provide aerial cover to drive back the enemy so that Ed and his crew could be rescued. In 1971 Ed became a member of the N.Y. Army Guard in Niagara Falls that I was a member of. After about a year Ed was chosen to transfer to the Air Force where he attended fixed wing flight school and went on to serve his country flying Aerial Refueling Tankers at SAC in Rome N.Y. Ed’s next tour he was assigned to flying the Top Secret AWAC aircraft at Tinker A.F. base for ten years where he was an Instructor and Aircraft Commander. Ed retired as a Major and went on to fly commercial aircraft for several years.

His funeral at Arlington was with full Military Honors. We were honored to walk to the ceremony site behind a Caisson with Ed’s remains, pulled by six horses with a full contingent of an Air Force Marching Band, Color Guard, Armed Unit and Squad of Armed Rifle men for the salute. Ed’s service was held near the burial site where the band played several times; an Air Force Chaplain read psalms and the presentation of the flag to the family was made.

Representatives of the Secretary of Defense were also in attendance to offer their condolences. There were approximately thirty members of the Air Force that participated. We then walked to Ed’s grave site with his family to say our final farewells. Walking on the grounds of Arlington where over fifty thousand veterans, many of whom paid
the ultimate price are buried was one of the most humbling experiences in my life. Participating in the funeral service was a great honor that I will always remember. We will be forever grateful to the Kozlowski family.

      

The VA Center in Batavia was host to a 50th anniversary commemoration of the Vietnam War.
    

The commemoration is being held in honor of Vietnam Veterans and their families including those held as prisoners of war or listed missing in action.

Guest Speaker Mr. Vincent Schollard served two tours of duty in Vietnam as a Navy Corpsman from 1966 to 1968.  

In a stirring speech he described what those who served in Vietnam had to come home to, “There was a cardboard sign in the window of a house sometimes saying "Welcome home Vet John or Mike" and the other people were still outside the airports with thier picket signs calling us baby killers, and what war criminals we were, and waiting with bags of dog crap, but we persevered and it's because of the Vietnam Veteran that the VA system got a better understanding of what PTSD really is...”

Schollard went onto speak of the exclusive brotherhood that he joined called the Vietnam Vets and how they have persevered not only through the horrors of War but in making many improvements to the VA system.

Schollard received a standing ovation as he choked up delivering the last words of his speech, “We are a strong group of men and women and I'm deeply proud to be a part of that, and I thank you for your service, welcome home my brothers.”  

St. Joe’s Brass Ensemble of Batavia played a service medley tribute as members of various military divisions arose for their tune to be be honored.

Frank Panepento and Tom Cecere led a haunting rendition of Silver Taps to close out the ceremony.

VA representatives were on hand to field questions about the VA system and many of the opportunities that a number of Veteran’s are underutilizing or completely unaware of.  For more information on VA services visit www.va.gov 

Kenneth Herrmann, along with several of his students from SUNY Brockport, are part of a film on post-war Vietnam that will air at an upcoming festival in Beijing. That film, Going Back, is about "three vets who returned to Vietnam to do humanitarian work," including Herrmann, who is from East Pembroke.

From VietnamNet:

The film includes interviews with Herrmann and in-depth coverage of the Brockport students who are filmed saving the life of a very sick and disabled child, serving lepers at the leper colony in Da Nang Province, assisting the elderly in a nursing home, and engaging 30 disabled kids at a respite programme for Agent Orange disabled children.

The theme, says Herrmann, is one of enhanced Buddhism - making peace with yourself in order to make peace with the war.

"Herrmann's work differs from that of others in that he engages in direct aid," said Steven Emmanuel, the film's producer and a professor of philosophy at Virginia Wesleyan University. "He and his students form a personal connection with the people they serve. We tried to show this in the film."

Daily News reporter Matt Surtel was on the scene at the VA Medical Center when 85-year old Clifford E. Williams received "nine long-overdue medals in a ceremony attended by family and friends." Williams was due the medals when he got out of World War II 64 years ago, but for whatever reason, they were never delivered.

Williams fought in France in 1944, when he was 22-years-old. He rescued a fellow soldier who was wounded in an ambush, literally dragging the man to safety. Later, writes Surtel, "Williams was himself badly wounded ... caught in a shellburst." He was discharged, honorably.

Among the honors bestowed on Williams Saturday were the Purple Heart and the American Campaign Medal decorated with three bronze stars.

Twelve-year-old Mike Vogel won the first-ever Spirit of Michael Award at the Michael Napoleone memorial Foundation's youth baseball tournament Saturday. Michael Napoleone was 8 years old when he died in 2006 from an aggressive leukemia. "His family set up the foundation to support families undergoing similar cancer crises, and supporting research into pediatric blood cancers," writes Surtel.

As always, we encourage you to pick up a copy of the Daily News wherever the paper is sold. Or, better yet, subscribe at BataviaNews.com.