Eric Spinner, commander of the Williston Park American Legion, wore a Star of David and a cross while speaking at the village’s Memorial Day ceremony Monday, May 25, as a way to remember a fallen soldier.

The Star of David, he said during his speech, represents his Jewish roots, while the cross came to him two years ago while serving as chaplain for the Long Island National Cemetery Memorial Organization.

Spinner said that two years ago, he led the prayers at a cemetery during Memorial Day as two Gold Star Mothers stood by, one of whom had lost her son during the Iraq war in 2007.

He said he closed the prayer by encouraging all in attendance to walk the rows of the cemetery and read the names of those interred there and see when they served and whether they died in service. He said he wanted the people to say the names of the fallen.

“If you say their name, they’re still with us,” Spinner said. “After the ceremony, [the mother] came over, told me the speech was beautiful … gave me a hug, and took [the cross] off her vest and handed it to me, and asked if I would wear it in honor of her son. I said, ‘That would be my greatest honor.’ It is still here and it is the meaning of Memorial Day.”

State Assemblyman Ed Ra echoed Spinner’s message and said Memorial Day should not be a time of celebration, but a time of remembrance.

“It’s probably appropriate that it’s been raining all week, because this is not supposed to be a happy weekend,” Ra said. “It’s supposed to be a somber day, remembering those men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms, for the ideals that this nation was founded upon.”

Ra said he recalled being a student at Chaminade High School and said he remembered the Gold Star masses they would hold each year. He said he didn’t feel a connection to Memorial Day until after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, about a year after he graduated.

The assemblyman said after losing two classmates to the war in the Middle East, the day of remembrance suddenly came into perspective for him.

“All of a sudden it became a lot more real that those were people that walked the halls of your high school, were in the athletic community,” Ra said. “Throughout the generations, men and women are called to serve this nation, and it’s almost impossible to put into words the sacrifice that they make for the betterment of their country.”

Source: LI Press