Younger generation needed to help Jeannette honor guard with 'sacred' day

The somber notes of taps floated through Jeannette backyards Monday morning.

A couple of residents came out of their homes near a tombstone marking the 1836 burial place of Revolutionary War soldier Henry Allshouse in what is now an alley off Margaret Street, feet from a swimming pool.

“This day is sacred,” said Tim Brennan, chair of the Jeannette Combined Veterans Honor Guard during one of six stops on the group’s annual Memorial Day caravan.

They’ve kept the caravan going for about 20 years, but, if members of the younger generation don’t join, the ceremonies they hold in front of Jeannette City Hall and in local cemeteries could disappear, he said.

“It’s very important because, if young people don’t start, it will end,” Brennan said. “We’re not going to last forever.”

Members of the honor guard, composed of veterans from the Jeannette American Legion and VFW posts, make the annual trek in their personal vehicles with the help of police cruisers to stop traffic.

The morning started at city hall before moving to Sacred Heart Cemetery in Hempfield, the Revolutionary War gravestone, two cemeteries near Grandview Fire Department in Penn Township and ending at Jeannette Memorial Park.

They remembered those who died in battle and others who got to return to their families after their military time. In one cemetery, a ceremony took place steps from a gravestone that stated John T. Wislocki was lost at sea in the Philippines in 1944 while serving in the Army.

“Beneath each one of these flags is a deceased veteran,” Brennan said while red, white and blue flags waved at Jeannette Memorial Park. “I’m sure each one of them probably has a story. Some may have told their story; some may have not.”

“It is our duty to honor them. It is because of them that we have the freedoms we have.”

Deno Petrillo, 89, is the oldest active member of the guard and participated in the 21-gun salute. He is an Army veteran and Jeannette native. His father fought during World War I and his brother during World War II.

“I joined the honor guard because it’s a good thing that they do,” Petrillo said.

Honor guard members typically help with funeral services for veterans, averaging about 50 per year, said Brennan, a Navy veteran. He estimated the average age of group members at 75. There are a few younger members, but they typically work during the day and aren’t able to help with funeral duties.

One of those younger veterans is Christine Smith of Jeannette. She was involved with the American Legion chapter in Jeannette and decided to join the honor guard where she is chaplain. She served with the Army Reserve for 20 years, including a one-year deployment to Kuwait during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Smith said she joined the group “to keep the tradition of honoring fallen soldiers, to keep it going.”