The 152nd annual Tamaqua Memorial Day Service of Remembrance was conducted virtually on the Tamaqua Remembers Facebook page and YouTube channel on Monday.

Eric Zizelmann, the Tamaqua American Post No. 173 Master of Ceremonies, led a masterful 35-minute production.

“Even though we lose that tradition this year, it brings the opportunity for a unique and creative approach to our service,” Zizelmann said in the video’s introduction. “In fact, the number of Tamaqua volunteers who have played a part in producing this service, more so than that of any previous year, make it a true community service.”

Grand Marshal Brian Dahm filmed his clip from the Saint Joseph Polish National Cemetery in Brockton.

“I’m glad to be the grand marshal of Tamaqua,” Dahm said. “I’m proud of serving in the United States Navy.”

Mayor Nathan Gerace spoke from the St. John Lutheran Cemetery in Tamaqua, which is the resting place of Staff Sergeant William Hankey.

“He is one of the many war heroes that we remember on this day, just as we remember friends and family that we lost.”

Zizelmann recorded from different sites, including Odd Fellows Cemetery of Tamaqua, to help honor many late local veterans.

Joseph Mehalko performed the national anthem.

The Rev. James Williams, of Orwigsburg, spoke from Friedens Lutheran Church Cemetery of New Ringgold, which is also the resting place of Carl Henry Berk, who served on an aircraft carrier in World War II.

“Our father as we come together in this year to give memorial to those who have given their lives for our country, we pray that you will be among us,” Williams said during the Invocation. “Bring your presence and your peace. It is a deep and awesome thing for someone to go off to war. But to never comes back, leaves a scar, leaves a deep hole in us. We pray lord you fill us, and as we think about them, remember faces long passed, remember memories, remember our grief as well. That you will take us up, hold us and carry us forward, so we do not forget the lessons learned and that we too will go forward and be able to serve with the same strength and utter conviction that they did.”

Sarah McCabe, a Tamaqua Area High School senior, led the reading of The American Creed. She is the recipient of the Tamaqua Business and Professional Women’s Young Woman of the Award winner. Emily Betz was the Poppy Queen. Betz is a fifth-grade honors student at the Tamaqua Elementary School.

The featured speaker was Sgt. James E. Frederickson, a 2005 graduate of Tamaqua Area High School.

Frederickson, who was raised in Andreas, enlisted in the United States Army immediately after graduation. By the end of his 12-year military career, he had received seven military achievement awards and eight service medals.

Frederickson moved to Northern Virginia in 2015 and became a police officer/SWAT operator with the Arlington County Police Department.

In 2018, Frederickson left policing to resume his career as an intelligence analyst and worked with the Defense Intelligence Agency before landing his current position at the Defense Threat Reduction Agency.

“When someone asks me now, James, how do I honor those on Memorial Day? I give them the example I gave you; I tell them to learn about the lives of these individuals who signed on the dotted lines knowing clearly what it could mean for their lives,” Frederickson said. “Learn their stories, say their name out loud, tell your friends and family about them and allow this person’s spirit to live on. If we can do that, then a part of them will live on and they will not be forgotten.

“The best way to thank a veteran on Memorial Day or any other day is to honor the fallen, care for the wounded, and safeguard their families.”

Recently deceased area veterans were honored and recognized with a roll call and the Tamaqua American Legion Color Guard performed salutes.

A service program can be found on the Tamaqua Remembers Facebook page.