The Tamaqua American Legion, C.H. Berry Post 173, hosted the 159th Annual Memorial Day Parade and Service of Remembrance. Due to rainy weather, following the parade, the service was held in the Tamaqua Art Center, 125 Pine St., Tamaqua.

The parade, while minus a few entries due to the rain, was led by this year’s Grand Marshal Stephen Heigele, a veteran of the United States Army, riding in a convertible Chevrolet Corvette.

Asked what it means to him to be grand marshal, Heigele responded, “Everything, because I never believed I would be sitting here. I’ve had some problems, and I’m going to be 79 next month.”

Dr. Evelyn M. Potochny, the guest speaker at the Remembrance Service, rode in a convertible Camaro.

Also among the parades entries was this year’s Poppy Queen, Brinley Boyle; West Penn Township Boy Scouts Pack 756; Elks Lodge 592, Tamaqua; Tamaqua Person of the Year, Vince Boyle; member of the Tamaqua Odd Fellows Harmony Lodge 86 and Lady Harmony Rebekah Lodge 86; the Tamaqua High School Raiders; The Dance Factory, Tamaqua, including Dance Queen Erin Smith, and Dance Princess Ella Lenhard.

Many first responders from the area took part, including the Tamaqua Borough Police Department, Tamaqua Fire Company; American Hose Co., Tamaqua; South Ward Fire Company, Tamaqua; and Citizens Fire Co #1, Tamaqua. Other entries included West Penn Fire Company, Hometown Fire Company, Tuscarora Fire Company, and Penn Mahoning Ambulance Association, just to name a few.

Following the parade, everyone proceeded to the Tamaqua Art Center for the Service of Remembrance.

“We gather now, as generations before us gathered, to honor those from the Tamaqua area who gave their lives in service to the United States of America,” emcee Matthew Zizelmann said to start the service.

Zizelmann introduced each of the guests of the service. Parade Grand Marshal Heigele, who served in the United States Army Military Police, served in Germany during the Vietnam era, a 53-year member of the Tamaqua American Legion.

Poppy Queen, 4-year old Brinley Boyle, Tamaqua; Tamaqua Business Person of the year, Vince Boyle; and Tamaqua Mayor David Clemson.

Carly Green of Tamaqua sang the national anthem and several other patriotic songs during the service.

Pastor Laura Kenlin Meiser, a native of Tamaqua, offered the invocation and the benediction.

Lisa Coombe Kenlin, niece of the late Lieutenant Thomas Coombe, who died in World War II, led the reciting of the American Creed.

The guest speaker was Doctor Evelyn M. Potochny, DO, a pathologist at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. Potochny read aloud from an article she had written in 2021 for the medical humanities journal Hektoen, an article entitled “They don’t teach us that.”

In that article, she describes how, during her time at a NATO hospital in Afghanistan, several Marines were brought in, having been injured when an improvised explosive device exploded. She recalled one specific Marine.

Near the end of her speech, she read, “The Marines say, ‘Never leave a buddy behind.’ Right now, Corporal, I’m your buddy, even though we’d never met before this morning. Alone, together, in a British-run NATO hospital in the middle of the Afghanistan desert ... I tried to imagine if I were you, the one far from home and family. I imagined I’d want someone near me ... But, you can’t talk. And your loved ones are not here.”

“I rehearse in my mind a few scenarios before I settle on this one: to sit upright in my chair beside you, silently, and breathe with you until you stop.”

In carrying on a tradition with the service of remembrance, Luke Fronheiser offered “A Voice from Tamaqua’s War Dead.”

Each year, someone reads the story of one of Tamaqua’s war dead. Fronheiser read the story of Josiah Poe, a casualty of the American Revolution, who is buried at Gettysburg.

A reading of the names of the veterans who passed away between last year’s Memorial Day was done, with Tamaqua sophomore Lianna Coombe-Holley playing a drum riff after each name. Sofia Figueroa, a senior at Tamaqua High School, played Taps on the trumpet.

“To memorialize the war dead, that’s what it’s about,” Tamaqua Mayor David Clemson said. It’s recognizing those who have passed, killed in the line of duty. That’s what it’s all about. It’s an honor for me to represent the town, especially as a vet.”