Memorial Day tribute to fallen veterans: Moments of silence in Nassau, Suffolk

Church bells will ring, sirens will blare, and officials hope that across Long Island residents and visitors alike will stop wherever they are, in the middle of whatever they’re doing, to observe a minute of silence taking place twice on Memorial Day to honor fallen veterans.

The initiative was enacted last year in Nassau County, inspired by a visit Nassau Executive Bruce A. Blakeman made several years ago to Israel, where he witnessed the annual Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremonies, when sirens are sounded and everyone stops to observe a moment of silence for those lost.

At a news conference Tuesday at the Farmingdale Fire Department on Main Street in Farmingdale, officials announced Suffolk County also will participate in this year's event — with a minute of silence taking place across Long Island at noon and at 6 p.m.

Officials said fire department sirens, as well as sirens on police vehicles, would sound for about a minute during the two moments of silence. Bells at every church in the Diocese of Rockville Centre also will ring, officials said. The hope is that people will pause to consider the real meaning of Memorial Day.

“It’s a very serious holiday and we should take it very seriously,” Blakeman said. 

Nassau implemented for ritual for the first time last Memorial Day, and Blakeman said he reached out to Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone last month to ask if the two counties might join forces this year.

Bellone said he leapt at the chance to honor heroes he said should “never be forgotten.”

"It takes a special kind of person to lay down their lives for our nation," Bellone said.

Tom Bergin, 83, of East Patchogue, who was a U.S. Navy Yeoman Third Class aboard the submarine USS Chivo from 1958-62 and who has served as the multidenominational chaplain for the Suffolk County American Legion for 20 years, said taking a moment to honor and remember fallen veterans was important for three reasons: “Because of them, our lives are free. Because of them, our nation lives. Because of them, the world is blessed.”

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”