Wednesday, May 15, 2002
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Wednesday, May 15, 2002 |
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PTC Memorial Day Guest Speaker Brings Unique Perspective The guest speaker for this year's Peachtree City Memorial Day celebration was a young Navy chaplain serving the needs of servicemen on duty in Beirut, Lebanon, in October 1983. Little did he know that on the 23rd of that month, his spiritual and emotional services were going to be badly needed in the wake of the worst terrorist act upon Americans ever to take place until Sept. 11. Navy Captain George W. Pucciarelli is now a 30-year Navy veteran who recently retired. Since 1983 he has done many things, accomplished many goals, including being the Chaplain of the Marine Corps from 1995 to 1998. But the memory of what happened Oct. 23, 1983, will stay with him forever, and the events of last Sept. 11 so closely mirrored the first that it dredges up the memories. On that fated day in 1983, 241 servicemen were killed as they slept, by a terrorist fanatic driving a Mercedes dump truck loaded with 2,000 pounds of dynamite wrapped around gas cylinders. About 400 Marines, sailors and soldiers were sleeping in a four-story barracks that was previously a hotel. The ensuing explosion brought the building down in an instant, crumpling it into a story and one-half of concrete, steel, and dead and injured men. Pucciarelli was on the scene minutes after the blast, helping to bring out the dead and wounded. Under sniper fire, he and other service brothers fought back the anger and frustration as they risked their own lives to go back into the still smoldering building. Inside the remains of the building, smoldering fires cooked off ammunition, sending M-16 rounds zinging randomly. Father Pooch, as his flock affectionately called him, then began to give last rites to those who did not make it, and emotional support to those injured and to those who continue the rescue and recovery effort. He would continue this pace, spending himself emotionally in order to bolster the spirits of those left to carry on. Last Sept. 11, as he watched on TV the scenes at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, he reflexively drew parallels to Beirut. "Serving both in Beirut and Desert Shield/Storm, I gave witness ... to the destructive and vindictive motives of those who hate America and what we stand for," he wrote in a letter accepting this speaking engagement. "Now it is time to deal with these issues head on, to face these people and deal with them accordingly. It has been long overdue!" He also noted that since Sept. 11, "grieving families and sensitized citizens of every state in the union have merged together to mourn the loss of so many. Together, they have ignited a new national spirit, resulting in a unique resolution to free evil from all peoples in all nations of the world." Pucciarelli is now the chaplain at the Naval Security Group at Fort Meade in Maryland. Over his 30-year career he has served in many ports worldwide. He spent a great deal of time with Marine Corps field units. He has distinguished himself many times over, earning high decorations including the Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal, Navy Commendation Medal and Combat Action Ribbon. He characterized his acceptance as guest speaker here as an honor. "Your city's Memorial Day celebration this year will be one timely and most appropriate. To remember those who have fallen for the sake of this nation's well being has been, and always will be, entrusted to us. We will not, nor never, fail them." The public is invited to the Memorial Day Celebration May 27 beginning at 7:45 a.m. at the VFW Memorial at City Hall Plaza in Peachtree City. A golf cart procession starting at the Gathering Place and going around Lake Peachtree to the Plaza will also be open to the public to join. Coffee and donuts will be served at the Gathering Place at 7 a.m. and the procession will begin promptly at 7:30. Participants are encouraged to decorate their carts in a patriotic motif. This year's celebration will include music by the Air National Guard Band of the South, a military band that plays concerts worldwide. They will perform all ceremonial music, and a concert immediately following the ceremony at approximately 9 a.m. There will be honors to the flag, a reading of the top winner in the student essay contest, and other pageantry. There will also be a special surprise unveiled at the ceremony. For more information on the event, contact the Recreation Department at 770-631-2542.
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