OCEAN CITY – Ralph W. Galati, the keynote speaker at Ocean City’s Memorial Day services, told an overflow crowd at Veterans Memorial Park about the 14 months he spent in Hanoi as a POW during the Vietnam War, but that came as little more than an aside.
His focus was not on himself.
Galati’s address dwelled on those who made the ultimate sacrifice, the sheer numbers of war dead, serving this nation since the War of Independence, and those still missing in action.
He was one of 591 Americans repatriated from Hanoi in 1973. He spent 14 months in captivity but others were there since 1964 and had suffered for eight years.
“Every day was an endurance test of mind and body,” he said. “Battling demons, real and imagined. Tolerating beatings, injuries, starvation, interrogations, sleep deprivation, solitary confinement and isolation.”
The biggest challenge, however, “was the loss of freedom” and the things taken for granted “when all you have is the air you breathe, often stale and putrid, you know you are in a very bad place. When you have to beg for water and toilet paper, you are in another world.
“When you finally realize that your family has no idea of your status – killed, missing, captured – that weighs heavily on your everyday survival. And yet, somehow we endured.”
Galati was introduced by Mike Morrissey, commander of VFW Post 6650, who said the former POW “went above and beyond the call of duty to also ensure our freedoms.
“Today we have the privilege of meeting a great American hero who would not betray his oath, would not jeopardize his fellow soldiers and would not allow his captors the satisfaction of breaking his will because he also wanted to return to his home with dignity,” Morrissey said. Galati was subject to treatment beyond what any soldier should be expected to endure, the commander added, but all he gave his captors in return what he was obligated to give them – name, rank and serial number. “He showed them what an honorable American was,” Morrissey said.
Galati said their role as POWs was to obey the code of conduct, resist to the best of their ability and be able to return home with honor.
He turned his focus back on the other POWs, how so many of them wanted updates on what had happened since their capture years earlier – the status of the war, who was president, the assassinations of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby Kennedy, the British music invasion and the space race. He drew laughs from the audience when he noted they also wanted to know if the women back home were still wearing mini-skirts.
Galati said the biggest piece of news was creation of the POW/MIA flag and bracelet campaign started in 1970.
“When I was able to tell them that they had not been abandoned by their government, that they had not been forgotten by the public, it was a tremendous morale boost,” he said.
Personally, he noted, as he thanked those gathered, those who wore the bracelets and wave the POW/MIA flag sent them all a message: “We will not abandon you.”
“Thank you all for never forgetting,” he said.
Galati related his own journey only after reinforcing the point that Memorial Day is meant to honor the fallen and he personally saluted the Gold Star moms and Gold Star families who were there. “Your sacrifice is immeasurable, but hopefully your memories will be cherished,” he said.
Galati provided a history of Memorial Day, first celebrated as Decoration Day on May 30, 1868 to honor the Union soldiers who died in the Civil War, but expanded to include all of the nation’s war dead. He said there have been more than 1.35 million U.S. casualties since 1775: 70,000 in the Revolutionary War, 655,000 in the Civil War, 116,516 in World War I, 405,399 in World War II, 36,574 in Korea, 58,320 in Vietnam and 7,100 in Middle East wars.
As a veteran who was shot down and captured during the Vietnam War, he emphasized the casualties from that conflict – the 58,280 names on Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C. – from the first death in 1956 to the 39,966 who died before they turned 22 to the 997 who were killed on their first day in Vietnam to the 1,448 killed on their last day.
“I don’t like to dwell on numbers,” Galati said, “but in this case they are quite impactful. Here we have real names, real heroes behind each one. And it’s important to remember how tragic this war was, especially on our very young and their families.”
He said it is important to remember all of those missing in action from World War II through the Gulf Wars, a total of 80,000 “souls still missing” with the families “still waiting for a final accounting.”
The morning rains in Ocean City ended in time for the Memorial Day ceremonies, held under a massive American flag, suspended from an Ocean City Fire Department ladder truck and blowing in the breeze. Mayor Jay Gillian read a poignant poem by Valerie Ward called “The Empty Chair at Our Table: A Family’s Loss.”
The crowd listened to an Armed Forces Medley, the national anthem and “God Bless America” sung by Natalie Ragazzo, American Legion Adjutant Jack Hagan explaining the POW/MIA table, the reading of the honor roll and a presentation of a wreath by Ron Williams of VFW Post 6650 and John Kocher of American Legion Post 524. The ceremony opened with an invocation by Pat Cummings Sr., vice commander of Post 524, and closed with Taps by Greg Murphy of Bugles Across America and a benediction by U.S. Army Lt. Col. Tom Dahl.
– STORY and PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
