By Zach Patberg
Still, he is careful to emphasize the more solemn moments of tribute planned for the legion's 25th annual Memorial Day parade in Forest Hills Sunday.About 30 to 40 elderly legionnaires will begin the march outside their post at 107-15 Metropolitan Ave. and head west a half mile to Trotting Cross Lane before stopping at the Rensen Cemetery, named after the famed revolutionary war militia leader. There, among the graves of Gerominus Rensen's ancestors, decorated veterans and relatives will lay down several wreaths in remembrance of past soldiers.Those wreath-layers include Medal of Honor recipients like Vietnam veteran Robert O'Mally, the first Marine to receive the country's highest military distinction, and Dorothy Oxenbine, called a Gold Star mother because her son was killed in action. Windberry, himself a Korean War vet who served on a destroyer from 1951 to 1953, said in the 25 years he has been with the legion he has never seen the parades diminish in significance. “They say you don't know what it's like unless you walk in (a soldier's) moccasins,” said the 72-year-old, who at is still young compared to the some 400 mostly World War II fellow legionnaires approaching 90. “Well, we have.”Mayor Michael Bloomberg, state Sen. Serphin Maltese (R-Glendale), U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Kew Gardens) and Borough President Helen Marshall are among those expected to attend the ceremony, along with a color-guard from West Point and around 20 British sailors from HMS The Nottingham, a destroyer temporarily docked in Staten Island. Once salutations are made, the legionnaires will head back to the post where, as Windberry this time comfortably puts it, “we'll celebrate.”Reach reporter Zach Patberg by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 155.
