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REMEMBERING 9-11:
Tribute to Father Mychal Judge
Just 'Doing Their Job'
The 69th Called Into Action (4-Part Series)
'Today We Stand Our Ground': 69th Marks Its 150th B'day
Zouaves, FDNY: Tragedy Renews Bond
Tipperary Native an Early FDNY Hero
NY Bard Pens Lament To FDNY's Fallen
Special WGT 9-11 Polls: Canonization for Mychal Judge? More.
'TODAY WE STAND OUR GROUND'
New York's Legendary 69th Regiment Marks Its 150th Anniversary
The Fighting 69th took time from its security detail to quietly mark its birthday in historic -- and now deeply scarred -- lower Manhattan, gateway to America for so many 19th century immigrants. The regiment reports in.
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69th Regiment, NYNG
Soldiers of today's 69th New York raise the regiment's colors over Castle Clinton to mark the 69th's 150th birthday. |
NEW YORK, Oct. 12 -- Blessing by Chaplain (1LT) Scott Kovalcik on the
occasion of today's 69th Infantry's 150th Anniversary.
"Dear Heavenly Father:
We come before you today to ask your further blessing
and protection upon our unit. We are soldiers forever
dedicated to the idea that all peoples have the right
to worship you in freedom. Freedoms that include the
inalienable right to be liberated from all physical,
racial, and spiritual oppression.
69th Regiment Marks Its 150th Birthday
By 1LT Sean Michael Flynn, 69th Infantry
NEW YORK, Oct. 12 -- A handful of soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry marked the
regiment's 150th anniversary today at Battery Park -- the unit's
headquarters during the World Trade Center activation. At 12:30, SSG
Colon led a color detail into Castle Clinton at the tip of the Battery.
While attaching the flag, CPL Lazar read a proclamation:
"In 1851, a group of immigrants formed a militia Regiment to protect
their new homes and their families. And they did ... First on their own
soil -- Then in France -- Then in the Pacific. And now -- at their
nation's darkest hour -- they defend their homes and families again. On
their own soil -- in their own city -- in New York. The home, for 150
years, of the fighting 69th. Gentle When Stroked, Fierce When Provoked."
At the last word, SSG Colon and his detail raised the Regimental colors
above the old fort. Chaplain Kovalcik blessed the unit and appealed to the
Holy Father for the strength to carry out his justice in this "holy and
righteous cause."
For the next 150 minutes, the Regimental Colors flew high above the
casements of Castle Clinton, marking the anniversary and the latest
deployment of the 69th Infantry.
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From our humble
beginnings in 1851, the 69th has fought against the
forces of evil that would limit an American's
God-given right to live in peace, to worship you and
to prosper as a people.
"These men and women today represent immigrant peoples
from all over our world who have come to New York to
find rest, freedom and peace from all sorts of
oppression and violence. We desire, like our Irish
comrades before us, to finally lay to rest the
divisions in our society like nationality, race,
gender and slavery. Our comrades before us died to
make all of mankind free in places called Bull Run,
Antietam and Fredricksburg! Their fighting, selfless
spirit and bravery under fire even brought them the
respect and admoration of our enemy's commanding
general, who gave us our title, 'The fighting Sixty
Ninth.'
"We were called on again to fight oppression and world
imperialism in the fields and woods of France in
places named Somme, Meuse, and the Argonne, where
scores of Irish immigrants paid the ultimate price to
be able to worship you in freedom and live their lives
in liberty.
"Only a few years later, we were called by our great
nation to oppose the forces of evil and genocide under
the banners of a pagan, twisted cross and an effigy of
the rising sun! The 69th again answered our nation's
call in places named Saipan, Makin and [ultimately
Japan.] It was the darkest moment of World War II when
the fate of our country hung in the balance that we
bled and died 'till Old Glory waved once more over
Mount Surabachi.
"Today we stand our ground where we once were formed a
hundred and fifty years ago, on the streets of
Manhattan, where Old Glory was again raised by
immigrant fireman over the sacred ground where our
loved ones paid their last full measure of devotion
to our God and country! Most gracious and ever-loving
father of us all, we stand here today recalling your
blessing and grace upon us. We, the soldiers of the
69th, ask you again to make us your strong, ready, and
holy people. Make us an instrument of your justice,
ever willing to sacrifice our very lives in the cause
of our founding fathers and mothers. A holy and
righteous cause, to defend our people and to grant to
them our blessing of life, liberty, justice and the
pursuit of peace in the land of the free and the home
of the brave."
RELATED LINKS:
"'Fighting 69th' Traditions are Alive and Well," Guard Times, March-April '98 Electronic Edition.
New York Army National Guard Home Page
Company D, 1st Battalion 69th Infantry (Mechanized)
Joe Hourigan's "History of the Fighting 69th"
Company A, 69th New York Volunteers Re-enactment Unit
155th New York Volunteer Infantry Reenactment Regiment, Inc. (Corcoran's Legion)
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