Fishkill Memorial Day ceremony honors local service members with music, remembrances and wreath presentation

Fishkill — Members of the Fishkill community gathered for a Memorial Day ceremony that combined music, historic remembrances and a wreath presentation honoring local service members.

Virgil Capilari, who identified himself as a member of the Fishkill Veterans Committee, opened the ceremony and asked attendees to hold questions and applause until the event concluded. "Memorial Day is not for the veterans," Capilari said, distinguishing the day from Veterans Day and urging the crowd to focus on those who died in service. He quoted the Roman historian Tacitus, saying, "The brave and the bold persist against fortune," to underscore themes of service and sacrifice.

The event included a Pledge of Allegiance led by Navy veteran Joseph Bruin and a performance of the national anthem by Taylor Reese. Capilari thanked the Fishkill Police Department and the town's police cadets for their support and noted that town crews had installed 303 patriotic banners ahead of the holiday. He also acknowledged several local officials in attendance, including Town Council member John Foreman and Town Clerk Becky Tompkins.

Capilari named several hometown honorees recognized by the town: Bridal Jesse Slater, commemorated with a local banner near Slater Chemical Company; Private First Class Charles Hunt, for whom a roadway has been named; Private Sydney Scofield, honored with a plaque and a place on the back wall at a recent Veterans Day event; and Corporal Derek Benjamin Brinkerhoff, who Capilari said was the first person from Dutchess County killed in the Korean conflict.

The program also included a detailed remembrance of Staff Sergeant Eugene Derrigan, a B-24 Liberator crew member who perished over the Pacific during World War II. Capilari described the conditions aircrews faced — flying at high altitude in unpressurized cabins, wearing oxygen tanks and heavy gear — and said Derrigan worked as a Morse-code communicator aboard a plane the crew nicknamed "Heaven Can Wait." Capilari used the story to illustrate the hardships and camaraderie of wartime service.

Toward the end of the ceremony Capilari called veterans Doug Delapioli and Charles Haugert to the stage for a wreath presentation. Attendees were asked to stand as cadets closed the colors and retired the flag. "That was such a beautiful rendition," Capilari said after Reese's performance.

The ceremony concluded with Capilari offering thanks to families, children and supporters in the crowd and urging a moment of reflection for those who did not return from service.