Annual Memorial Day Watch Fires Ceremony at Eugene Levy Memorial Park

by M.C. Millman

Eugen Levy Memorial Park is one of Rockand's four sites for the annual Watch Fire ceremony that has taken place every Memorial Day for the last 35 years.

Watch Fires in Rockland were started by the late Jerry Donnellan, a Vietnam War veteran and Founder of Chapter 333 of the Vietnam Veterans of America, who decided the watch fires should be on the traditional Memorial Day (May 30) and not require a band, fireworks, or an audience other than those who understood.

The watch fires were modeled upon Revolutionary War signal fires, which General George Washington had lit along the Hudson River to tell people that the war was over. 

"Every year, I try to attend the watch fires as they are a poignant reminder of the sacrifice of our brave soldiers," Clarkstown Supervisor George Hoehmann shares with Rockland Daily. "I always think of the late Jerry Donnellan, who started the watchfires with the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 333 in the 1980's. This year I watched from Eugene Levy Memorial Park Clausland Mountain with my daughter Ciara and her friend Caitlyn, who were both touched by the experience." 

The Vietnam Veterans of America sponsors these watch fires annually throughout Rockland County to remember soldiers who are in service abroad and the troops who didn't return from war.

The watch fires were lit last night at 11:30 pm and will burn for 24 hours at four locations:

• •Bowline Point Park in Haverstraw
•  Eugene Levy Memorial Park on Route 45 in Pomona
• The top of Clausland Mountain in Orangeburg
•  The east end of the Piermont Pier.

Anyone wishing to retire flags can still o do so at any of the Watch Fire locations.

Photo Credit: Clarkstown Supervisor George Hoehmann