O Canada

By PNC Carl Singer

Like many JWV posts, Essex-Preiskel-Miller-Glassberg Post 47 strives to honor our fallen comrades by putting out flags prior to Memorial Day and Veterans Day. We focus on two cemeteries in northern New Jersey, Menorah Cemetery in Passaic and the King Solomon Cemetery in Clifton. To accomplish this mission, we are helped by numerous community volunteers and Scouts BSA (formerly the Boy Scouts).

The King Solomon Cemetery is a large facility with over 50,000 graves. This past November the scouts who were assisting us found two graves with what we thought were logos for the Royal Air Force. We, of course, wanted to do right to honor these allied veterans.

It was a circuitous path to make this happen. Unable to reach the appropriate personnel at the British Embassy, I contacted my Congressman’s Chief of Staff, who in turn contacted the Congressional Liaison to the British Embassy. A Group Captain at the British Embassy who serves as their Assistant Air and Space Attaché contacted me. His sharp eyes determined the logos on the headstone were actually RCAF, for the Royal Canadian Air Force. He forwarded my request to his Canadian counterpart.

I was contacted by a Lieutenant-Colonel who is the Assistant Canadian Forces and Space Attaché. In turn, I contacted the Poppy & Remembrance Director at The Royal Canadian Legion.

Our post then purchased the appropriate Canadian flags so we could put them on the two graves. Mission Accomplished.

Volume 76. Number 1. 2022