A Look Back
By Fred Miller
Seventy-eight years ago, Tuesday, May 30, 1944, Thomas A. Williams, captain of the Ocean City Beach Patrol, led the lifeguards’ Memorial Day ceremony from the Boardwalk at Moorlyn Terrace. After watching the lifeguards raise the American flag, he said, “While the Allied offensive is reaching new heights, this is Ocean City’s most solemn Memorial Day observance. Today we pay tribute to resort men who gave their lives both in World War I and thus far in World War II.”
After the Williams and the lifeguards “unlocked” the Atlantic Ocean for the summer of 1944, Joe Regan and Jack Kelly rowed a memorial wreath a short distance from the beach and placed in on the sea to honor the dead.
At 11:00 o’clock, hundreds gathered in front of City Hall to pay tribute to Ocean City men who gave their lives fighting to defend freedom. Mayor Clyde W. Stuble, Commissioner Henry Roeser Jr., Commissioner Edward Bowker, and the Morgan-Ranck Post of the American Legion were in charge of the patriotic program.
It began with the singing of God Bless America and a military march. The colors were presented by members of the American Legion. Veterans of World War I placed a floral chain linking together the World War I monument and the World War II Honor Roll.
The invocation was given by Rev. Norman V. Sargent: “On this Memorial Day we are showing our undeviating purpose of carrying high the torch of freedom and justice, unafraid, to the last outpost of civilization.”
Mayor Struble spoke of the long-awaited Allies invasion of Western Europe. He believed it would happen soon and when it did the churches of Ocean City would be holding services of prayer and meditation for many Americans involved in the battle.
At noon the flag on the City Hall was raised from half to full staff and the playing of The Star Spangled Banner concluded the ceremony.
The observance of Memorial Day is Ocean City’s oldest and noblest traditions. At its core lies the most basic of the beliefs on which our country was founded: freedom is so precious it is worth the price of our lives to preserve it.
