A day of remembrance and hope WWII veteran & 8-year-old pay homage to deceased veterans BY JENNIFER KOHLHEPP Staff Writer SCOTT PILLING staff Jeremy Posluszny, 8, of Cream Ridge makes his way around Emleys Hill Church Cemetery on May 25, replacing old American flags on the graves of veterans to commemorate Memorial Day. In lonely local cemeteries, 83-year-old James V. D'Amore Sr. celebrated Memorial Day by replacing tattered American flags on veterans' graves in a state of reflection and silent prayer. The Clarksburg resident served in the U.S. Navy Sea Bees in the South Pacific during World War II and is now an active veteran who serves in the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Freehold Post 4374. For this year's Memorial Day, he volunteered to replace old flags on Monmouth County veterans' graves at five local cemeteries. On the afternoon of May 25, he was placing the last of the new flags at Emleys Hill Church Cemetery in the Cream Ridge section of Upper Freehold. D'Amore, who has health complications due to intense sun exposure he experienced during his service in the Navy, tried to get local students involved in the flag-replacing project, but he was a bit disappointed when only one volunteer responded. However, after just two days of locating graves in the old cemeteries of Upper Freehold and Millstone, D'Amore could not say enough about the enthusiasm of his sole 8-year-old helper, Jeremy Posluszny, of Cream Ridge. SCOTT PILLING staff Eight-year-old Jeremy Posluszny, of Cream Ridge, helps James V. D'Amore Sr., 83, of Clarksburg, replace tattered American flags on veterans' graves at Emleys Hill Church Cemetery in Cream Ridge on May 25. D'Amore put Jeremy in charge of locating the graves of the veterans in the cemeteries using a large list supplied to them through the VFW. "There were some graves of veterans that served as far back as the French and Indian War, the Revolutionary War, the Civil War and the Spanish American War, as well as those that served in World War I, World War II, and in Vietnam and Korea," D'Amore said. The most interesting gravestone the pair came across was that of Gen. James Cox, who was an officer in the American Revolutionary War at the battles of Brandywine, Germantown and Monmouth and who was elected brigadier general of the Monmouth Brigade after the war. Cox is buried in the Old (Ye Olde) Yellow Meeting House Cemetery in Imlaystown. For Jeremy, the task of locating the graves was "fun like a scavenger hunt." Sometimes, however, finding the graves was difficult, since many of them have old, faded and worn-down headstones that are difficult to read. "I didn't find two, and I looked all over [for them]," Jeremy said. "The Old Yellow Meeting House Cemetery was the hardest because people have been buried there since the Civil War and even older wars." The Upper Freehold Regional Elementary School student also found the task at hand educational. "I learned how special veterans are to our country," Jeremy said, "and that they tried to protect us and help us keep our freedom." D'Amore's daughter, Diane Wescott, who drove her father to the cemeteries, said, "It was so nice to see a young boy understand the meaning of Memorial Day and honoring the veterans of wars going back to the Revolutionary and Civil wars. Jeremy showed maturity and respect as he replaced the old tattered flags with crisp new ones." D'Amore said the history of war is a rich history that he thinks young people should learn about. He said many veterans do not speak about their wartime experiences, but he believes that they should. D'Amore recounted some memories he has from serving in the Navy from Dec. 14, 1942, to Nov. 18, 1945. He signed up to serve three days after his 16th birthday. He prefaced his conversation by saying that he no longer has animosity toward those he fought in the war. "There was a deep patriotism when the Japs bombed Pearl Harbor," D'Amore said. "Everyone in the United States volunteered to serve. It was a different feeling of patriotism back then - one in which you would offer your life to your country." When D'Amore, originally from Newark, went into New York City to enlist, the recruiters did not believe his age and told him that he needed written consent from a parent in order to join. Frightened that his mother would never agree to allow him to serve, given that his other older brothers were already serving in the military, D'Amore had a neighbor alter the papers to look like documents from his job. He told his mother he needed her signature on routine insurance papers for his job, and she signed them. After basic training, D'Amore was sent to the South Pacific for amphibious training for the invasion of Okinawa. While training was difficult and D'Amore experienced the loss of a good friend during the war, he was also blessed by two surprise visits from his older brothers while stationed there. When his brother Phil's ship was hit, the two got to spend some time together. "We bought a $3 bottle of wine - which was really a $5 bottle of wine by today's standards - and celebrated for two days," he said. D'Amore also had a chance to meet up with his other brother, Nat, in the South Pacific during wartime when his brother's ship came ashore after being repeatedly bombed. "It was July and my brother was a ship's cook, and I asked him, 'What's for lunch?' " D'Amore said. "He said turkey and I said, 'But it's July.' Then he asked me what I would like with my turkey, so I said more turkey." After the area in the South Pacific where he was stationed suffered through a terrible typhoon, D'Amore returned home from duty. When he left, he said the Navy gave him a pack of cards, a couple of cookies and some money to spend, but little else. D'Amore even had to sleep in movie theaters for a while because he had nowhere else to go. While those who served in the Vietnam War got a parade, D'Amore said he and his comrades never received such attention. He said that to this day the only accolades he has received have been from the children in local schools that he has visited. He and other veterans also take comfort in the camaraderie and support supplied by organizations such as the VFW and the American Legion, he said. Memorial Day is a time of reflection for D'Amore, who pays his respects to Frank James Cateano Jr., a good friend he lost six days into the war, and the thousands of other military service personnel who have lost their lives while serving the country. For D'Amore, Memorial Day is not a time for picnics and partygoers. "This is what it is all about," he said as he helped Jeremy place a new flag on the grave of Charles M. Thompson, who served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. Born in 1925, Thompson died on Jan. 20, 2003, and is buried in Emleys Hill Church Cemetery. Gazing around the cemetery at the sharp red, white and blue of the newly replaced flags, D'Amore contemplated the history of war and the future of this country. He said the people need to restore the kind of patriotism America was built on. "This president is destroying what we fought for," he said.