Coronavirus Can't Stop North Fork From Paying Tribute To Fallen

NORTH FORK, NY — Southold Town's annual Memorial Day services may have been canceled due to the coronavirus, but that didn't stop firefighters and members of the American Legion from honoring the fallen across the North Fork.

Firefighters and Legion members, along with others, paid solemn tribute to those who gave their lives for the nation's freedom, forming a procession and placing wreaths at the monument in front of the Mattituck American Legion, Steamboat Corner in Greenport and at Southold's American Legion Griswold Terry Glover Post 803.

Members of the Southold Fire Department along with the American Legion Griswold Terry Glover Post 803, led by Commander Charles Sanders, made five stops, beginning at the Peconic Lane Community Center.

A wreath was laid at the flagpole on Peconic Lane newly spruced up by Boy Scout Jacob Boivin to honor Harry E. Schlachter, who served in the United States Army and was a World War II vet. He died on Jan. 14 at 93, his son Greg said.

Schlachter joined the military at 17 and served in the South Pacific. And for the rest of his life, while working for 40 years for the phone company and giving back to the community, he was forever proud of his service to the nation.

Boivin also created a memorial plaque for Schachter that stands in his memory at the base of the flagpole; on Memorial Day, for the first time, a wreath was laid beside the plaque to honor Schlachter.

Stops were also made at the Southold Free Library and at a monument in Triangle Park.

In Southold, the fifth and final stop was made at the American Legion, where a memorial field of poppies, created for the fifth year in a row by Southold's Griswold Terry Glover American Legion Post 803's Auxiliary Unit #803, stood proudly in tribute.