Low Scoring Games - Now and Then

Whether or not history repeats itself is questionable, but there are moments when it seems to be painfully true.  The early innings of Saturday's first game at Greenway Meadows Park in Princeton between the Neshanock and the Monmouth Furnace Club were a case in point.  Back in May, the two clubs played almost four innings when the skies opened wiping out the contest.  At least that time the bad weather was forecast.  On Saturday the two teams were settling into the first match when again the skies opened and it looked like the games were in doubt.  However the two teams manfully played through the rain which eventually abated, allowing for the completion of both seven inning matches.  The games were the latest installment in an annual event hosted by the Historical Society of Princeton.  In Neshanock circles it's also known as the annual "Tumbles" game because it was the 2011 event when Ken "Tumbles" Mandel joined the team.  It's safe to say the Neshanock, not to mention vintage base ball, have never been the same and we'll just leave it at that.

All pictures by Mark Granieri

Flemington won the toss sending the Monmouth team to the striker's line. After they were retired without incident, the Neshanock tallied three times, followed by four more in the second and six in the third for a commanding 13-0 lead.  Flemington had one more big inning, scoring five times in the fifth in route to a 19-0 victory.  The Neshanock offense was led by Danny "Lefty" Gallagher and Mark "Gaslight" Granieri both of whom had four hits and recorded a clear score for the match.  Jim "Jersey" Nunn contributed three hits as did newcomer Pete Disciasio, who played well in his Neshanock debut.  Also contributing offensively were Tom "Thumbs" Hoepfner, Joe "Mick" Murray, Chris "Low Ball" Lowry, Bobby "Melky" Ritter and "Tumbles" with two hits apiece.  One of "Thumbs" hits was a grand slam home run that made up for a lack of distance with perfect placement. "Melky" and Rene "Mango" Marrero shared the pitching duties allowing only four hits, supported once again by stout Flemington defense.

The Neshanock getting focused for the first match

After a brief respite, Flemington struck with a vengeance in the top of the first tallying 13 times before the side was retired and then adding five more runs in the top of the second, putting the game out of reach.   While there wasn't much drama after that, the game did present some interesting scenes, especially "Tumbles" pitching with "Gaslight" serving as the umpire, but you had to be there to fully appreciate it.  Leading the way offensively in the 30-2 win was Tom "Thumbs" Hoepfner who had five hits and a clear score, a feat matched by "Jersey" with four hits.  Joining "Jersey" in the four hit category were "Lefty," "Mango," "Low Ball" and Tom Priori in his third game for the Neshanock.  Not far behind Tom was fellow newcomer Joe Tomlinson with three hits.  Also recording three hits was Jeff "Duke" Schneider while Joe "Mick" Murray and "Gaslight" had two each.  Next week the Neshanock are off for the July 4th holiday, but return to action on Saturday, July 10th at historic New Bridge Landing in Bergen County.  After that it's off to Gettysburg where we look forward to seeing our friends from the Monmouth Furnace Club. 

Under mixed skies, Danny "Lefty" Gallagher leads off for Flemington

As noted in the account of last weekend's matches, Flemington's second game 3-1 victory was one of the lowest scores in team history.  Admittedly, it was only a seven inning game, but the score was rare enough to merit further analysis.  As one might expect, the Neshanock played almost errorless ball, committing just a harmless first inning muff.  Also to be expected was the  high number of foul outs (7 or 1/3 of the total), outs where the ball didn't even make it into fair territory. It should be noted however that the Neshanock earned those outs, especially two fine plays by Chris "Sideshow" Nunn and Joe "Mick" Murray. Far more unusual is that only five Liberty strikers were retired at first base, all on ground balls to the pitcher, second or first base. Not a single ground ball was hit to the left side of the infield eliminating the need for the longer and more difficult throw to first. The balance of the outs came on six fair bound outs and three fly outs.  All told, the Liberty only had five base runners, one on the muff and four through base hits, only one of whom crossed home plate.  Solid Neshanock defense had a lot to do with the low score, but the total absence of ground balls to the left of second seems significant. 

Chris "Low Ball" Lowry battles both the opposition and the elements

Since Flemington batted second, the Liberty only had to record 18 outs, but the chances faced by the New Brunswick team were more difficult.  Only two Neshanock strikers went out via foul balls while seven were retired at first base.  Of the latter group, all, but one were hit to the left side of the infield and the Liberty third baseman and shortstop made a number of strong stops and throws.  After that eight or almost half of the 18 outs came on bound outs, divided between the infield and outfield with the final out coming from a fly ball.  The Liberty played flawless defense without a single muff, but the eight Neshanock hits were the reason why Flemington tallied two more runs than the New Brunswick team.  While it was enough to win, the low Neshanock score seems due to the quality of the Liberty defense since there wasn't anything out of the ordinary in how the outs were recorded.  Perhaps more importantly, the pitching for both teams, while good, didn't seem to be different in any way could account for the low scores for both teams.

The rain falls on the offense and the defense

Naturally, or at least naturally in my case, the low score made me wonder how common such low offensive numbers were back in the 1860s.  Since the Neshanock - Liberty game was played under 1864 rules, the only real comparison is with that season, the only year called balls (introduced in 1864) and fair bound outs (eliminated after 1864) were part of the game.  A review of the scores listed in Marshall Wright's The National Association of Base Ball Players: 1857 to 1870 revealed the two lowest scoring games of that season were an 8-6 Excelsior (Brooklyn) victory over the Union Club of Morrisania and a 9-3 defeat of the Empire Club by the Active Club (both of New York).  It turns out, however, that the Excelsior - Union game was a fly game, that is, the bound rule was not used, leaving only the second game for some basis of comparison.  Interestingly, the Active Club should only have scored eight runs due to an umpire's error.  While pitching to the Active leadoff batter, Empire pitcher, Alphonse "Phonny" Martin committed a balk and for some reason, known apparently only to himself, the umpire awarded the batter first base and he proceeded to work his way around and score.

Rene "Mango" Marrero (left) and Tom "Thumbs" Hoepfner lead the Neshanock off the field after a hot day's work

Both teams in the 1864 game took advantage of foul outs, making a little over 20% of the 27 outs in that manner.  The Active Club relied far more on infield play recording 15 outs, more than 50% of the total.  The Empires depended far more on fly outs - 11 compared to only six for the Active.  No bound outs were recorded in the box score so it's not clear if there weren't any or if they are counted somewhere in these other categories. Based on the eyewitness newspaper accounts, it seems the relatively low 1864 score had more to do with the pitchers than the defense behind them.  Interestingly, Charles Walker for the Active Club and Martin for the Empire team were almost mirror opposites.  Martin was known for how he mixed up slow pitches while Walker's reputation was based on his "speed and command," although there were questions about the legality of his delivery.  It seems, therefore, that the major difference between the two low scoring games (1864 and 2021) is the role pitching played in the low run production.  While this is far from scientific analysis that also appears, at least to me, to be a major overall difference between contemporary 1864 matches and vintage base ball - food for further thought.

Learning from Father

After a weekend off, the Flemington Neshanock returned to action on Saturday, traveling to Piscataway, to take on our friends the New Brunswick Liberty.  A relatively new vintage club, the Liberty recreate the first base ball club in Middlesex County, founded in 1857.  The original Liberty have the distinction of being the first New Jersey team to become members of the National Association of Base Ball Players, a loose confederation of teams that played a major part in establishing the rules of early organized base ball.  In addition to playing our friends on the Liberty, the Neshanock were also pleased to welcome back our founder, Brad "Brooklyn" Shaw and his son, Danny "Lunchtime" Shaw.  Also playing on Saturday, were three muffins or new members of the Neshanock - Joe Tomlinson, Rick Mosher and Tom Prioli.  We were glad to have them with us and hope that they will become regular members of our team.

Henry Zinn, a fifth generation baseball player 

Today marked the first time in 2021 that the Neshanock played two games, both seven inning contests, one by 1858 rules and the other by our more familiar 1864 regulations.  One of the features of playing games by two different sets of rules is that players and spectators get a sense of how and why the rules changed as the game evolved.  The major difference between 1858 and 1864 is that in 1858, there were no called balls and while strikes could be called it didn't happen very often.  The result is a game where the batter has less incentive to swing and the pitcher has less incentive to throw the ball where the batter can hit it.  The net result is usually a longer game.  Playing under those rules illustrates pretty clearly why balls and strikes became an essential part of the game.  

All additional photos courtesy of Mark Granieri

In the 1858 contest, the Neshanock not only struck first, they tallied three times and led 3-1 after one inning.  Flemington then added four runs in the second inning and another in the third for what seemed like a comfortable 8-2 lead going to the bottom of the sixth.  However the Liberty rallied, scoring four times, to close within two, before Flemington retired the side.  Fortunately, the Neshanock added an insurance run in the top of the seventh and then shut out the Liberty in the bottom inning, aided by an acrobatic catch of a foul ball by Flemington catcher, Mark "Gaslight" Granieri.  "Lunchtime" marked his return to the Neshanock with two hits, a feat equaled by teammates Jeff "Duke" Schneider and Chris "Sideshow" Nunn.  

The return of the Shaws - Brad "Brooklyn" Shaw center, Danny "Lunchtime" Shaw right

After a brief break to rehydrate, the teams returned to action for a game by 1864 rules which turned out to be one of the most unusual in Neshanock history.  Flemington tallied once in the bottom of the first which was matched by the Liberty in the top of the third.  In the bottom of the inning, the Neshanock added two more runs, thanks to some clutch hitting by "Lunchtime" and Bobby "Melky" Ritter for a 3-1 Neshanock lead.  Remarkably, that was the end of the scoring as the Neshanock not only kept the Liberty off the scoreboard the rest of the way, but also retired the last six men in order.  Special notice should be taken of fine defensive plays by "Sideshow" and Joe "Mick" Murray on foul ball bound outs as well as "Lunchtime's" pitching.  The two teams committed only one muff between them. Looking back through 2011, the game marked the fewest Neshanock runs scored in a win and the four total runs scored, equals a June 13, 2012, 4-0 loss to the Essex Club of Massachusetts.  Flemington returns to action next Saturday at Greenway Meadows Park in a game against the Monmouth Furnace Club sponsored by the Historical Society of Princeton. 

Dave "Illinois" Harris threatening (sort of) to steal second

Playing baseball on Father's Day weekend always reminds me of Billy Crystal's comment in Ken Burn's baseball series that baseball is "the game my father taught me."  Many of us can identify with that remark because regardless of our age, we've had a similar experience.  Baseball is unique in that respect because fathers teaching the game to their children dates back far beyond any other American sport.  It's not unreasonable to believe that by the 1870s, New Jersey's pioneer baseball players were teaching their sons about a game that was simultaneously old, new, and constantly changing - much as it remains today.  Depending on when our families came to this country, the experience can date back for generations.  The Zinn family, for example, arrived in America on July 3, 1849 when Johannes Zinn landed in New York harbor.  While organized baseball was being played then there is no evidence of Zinns playing the game until John G. Zinn (1892-1955) played in the early years of the 20th century.  In fact, exactly one hundred years ago, he played first base for the Bordens Milk Company team in the Hackensack industrial league.

"Lunchtime" at bat, Lawrence Major, Liberty Club founder is the catcher

There is also no question, he taught the  game to his son, Henry G. Zinn (1914-2002) who in turn taught it to me.  Almost without thinking about it, I continued the practice with Paul Zinn who is now doing the same with Sophie in softball and Henry in baseball.  Hard as it may seem to believe competitive softball wasn't an option for girls when I was growing up so I'm grateful Sophie has the opportunity.  There are three things in particular that I remember learning from my father about baseball.  The first was how to wear a baseball uniform.  In a day when youth players wore wool stirrup stocks without elastic support to hold them up, he figured out a way for me to avoid looking like my peers who constantly had their baseball socks around their ankles.  I may not have been a baseball player, but at least I looked like one.  That same initial season when I was struggling hitting, he taught me to hold my bat level rather than vertical facilitating a level swing that produced results right away. 

Game Action

Most of all though, the thing that continues to stand out has to do with throwing.  Early on he told me that the way to control where your throws go is to focus on where the ball leaves your hand.  If your hand is up high, the throw will be high, if it is low, the throw will be low.  Not only did I teach that to Paul Zinn, I also stressed it to his teammates when I coached youth baseball almost always with good results.  And anyone who has pitched for the Neshanock, especially Bobby "Melky" Ritter, is used to hearing me remind them to "Follow through." This is hardly a groundbreaking new approach to baseball. It's significance lies in how it teaches an important principle in just a few words, an approach to teaching that has a better chance of success because of its simplicity.  Now, of course, a new generation of Zinns is learning the game be it softball or baseball.  Sophie enjoys pitching and one time I mentioned the release point principle to her.  With the withering look, only a nine year old can manage, she said, "I already know that!"  Of course, she does, after all, she learned it from her father!

  

Location, Location, Location

Baseball, regardless of whether it's one word or two, often seems to be a game of trite clichés and unbroken rules or principles that teams violate at their own risk.  Yet there is a reason why we fall back on those clichés and principles - all too frequently they are literally true. That has certainly been the case with the 2021 version of  the Flemington Neshanock -Elizabeth Resolutes rivalry, the oldest in the state.  Take for example the oft used expression "when these two teams get together anything can happen and usually does."  In the opener back on May 1st, Flemington took an early lead, but the Resolutes kept chipping away and won the game in the bottom of the ninth.  Saturday's second meeting at the Howell Living History Farm near Lambertville was more of the back and forth variety, but with all the drama anyone could want.  As per usual, all game photos are by Mark "Gaslight" Granieri

Shooting Park Grounds, Vailsburg, Newark - 1898

Flemington won the toss and sent the Resolutes up first to the striker's line.  The visitors tallied once, a run the Neshanock matched and then added three more for a 4-1 lead after one.  Felmington increased it's advantage to 7-2 after three innings, but Elizabeth came roaring back with five in the fourth and four in the fifth to lead 11-8 after five innings.  The two teams basically traded runs over the next few innings so the Resolutes still had a three run lead when Flemington came up in the bottom of the seventh.  The Neshanock were far from done, however, tallying seven times for an 18-14 lead which looked even better when Elizabeth didn't score in their half of the eighth.  Flemington added one more tally in the bottom of the eighth and held a five run advantage as the game headed to ninth. One of the timeless principles of baseball is with a big lead late the one thing to avoid at all costs is giving the opponent base runners, a principle the Neshanock violated three times.  The Resolutes are far too good a team to give that kind of help and the visitors tied the game at 19-19.

Note the tree taking up most of right field

Having abused one cardinal baseball principle Flemington did so again in the bottom of the ninth - loading the bases with one out, but then failing to score sending the game to extra innings.  Offending the baseball gods that often usually leads to disaster and this was no exception.  Elizabeth put one run across the plate in the top of the tenth and although Flemington got the tying run to third, he died there and the Resolutes had a second dramatic one run victory over the Neshanock.  None of this is to take anything away from Elizabeth who earned the win with timely hitting and solid defense. Flemington had plenty of offensive contributors as Danny "Lefty" Gallagher, Dan "Sledge" Hammer, Rene "Mango" Marrero, Chris "Low Ball" Lowry, Chris "Sideshow" Nunn and Ken "Tumbles" Mandel all had three hits.   In the process "Mango" earned his first clear score of the season.  Not far behind were Gregg "Burner" Wiseburn, Joe "Mick" Murray and Scott "Snuffy" Hengst each with two hits apiece.  After an open date this Saturday, the Neshanock will visit the Liberty Club of New Brunswick on Saturday, June 19th.   

Ken "Tumbles" Mandel about to score for Flemington

The Resolutes have taken to live-streaming their matches over Facebook - a boon to the their followers, but obviously not something that was part of baseball  in the 1860s and 70s.  The innovation along with a recent post by MLB historian John Thorn, in his always interesting and informative blog, reminded me that the first motion picture of a baseball game was made right here in New Jersey.  That probably shouldn't come as a surprise since the leading innovator of motion pictures, Thomas Edison both lived and worked in West Orange.  When Edison was ready to experiment with filming  a baseball game, he didn't have to send his staff very far, just a few miles away to nearby Vailsburg, then an independent borough, now part of the city of Newark.  Fortunately the film survives and can be viewed at the Library of Congress' web site.  One word of advice - don't blink - it lasts less than 30 seconds.  

A very historically accurate picture (minus the water bottle)

The film captures a very brief segment of a game between the Newark Colts and the Reading Coal Heavers two teams in the Atlantic League, a minor league that operated from 1896 to 1900.  The game was played on either May 17, 1898, a game won by Newark 10-7 or the following day, a 4-2 Reading triumph.  The action depicts two Newark batters, both of whom, as far as I can tell, were put out at first base.  There is speculation that the first Newark batter (at about 11 seconds) is Zane Grey who after trying dentistry and base ball, found his calling as a novelist especially of westerns like Riders of the Purple Sage.  Grey also wrote some baseball books, most notably in this case, The Shortstop, a story of minor league baseball based to some extent upon his experience with the Newark Colts.

Philadelphia Inquirer - May 18, 1898 - note the attendance of only 125, testament to the financial challenges of running a minor league team before the introduction of farm systems.

This historic event took place in New Jersey because of another old adage, this time about real estate where the three most important things are location, location and location.  In this case that means the proximity of the field to Edison's laboratory.  Even so, someone had to put up and maintain a ballpark there and a further benefit of the film is one of the earliest pictures of a New Jersey baseball field or grounds as they were then called.  The Newark team played its home games at the Shooting Park Grounds in Vailsburg and from the pictures we can see a wooden grandstand with a covered roof - not exactly luxury, but something more than an open field.  Baseball's equivalent of "George Washington slept here" is the famous players who passed through these obscure minor league parks on the way to the majors.  The Shooting Park is no exception. In 1896, the Atlantic League's first season, the Paterson club was represented on the field by future Hall of Famer Honus Wagner under the direction of his manager, Ed Barrow.  Barrow effectively created the general manager's position and is also a Hall of Fame inductee.

Paterson Atlantic League team - Honus Wagner is third from left in the back row, Ed Barrow is the man in the bow tie. 

Such stories of future major league stars playing at minor league venues are far from unique, but what is unusual in this case is that Wagner's opinion of the Shooting Park survives - in short, he didn't like it.  According to the Paterson News, Wagner (unflatteringly referred to as "Harris") moaned that there was "not room enough to play marbles on the diamond."  Perhaps prompted by Wagner, the reporter provided a detailed list of the fields shortcomings beginning with it's "cigar box" like dimensions including a short right field fence and "a big tree" in left field.  Perhaps the tree in the playing field was modeled on the Howell Living History Farm where a large tree in right field made for some interesting ground rules.  Nor was the infield much better since the "lumpy" ground made it "hard for a player to get a ground ball."  The small size of the ground forced the writer to continually look for new metaphors since after starting out as a "cigar box," a few days later the Shooting Park was a "cheese box."

Always a fun venue

While the park's limitations couldn't have been a good thing, at least it was there when Edison was ready to make motion picture history.  That was no sure thing since a year earlier, the future of the park and the club was very uncertain.  On August 24, 1897, some questionable calls by the umpire led to a riot that led the borough council to ban Sunday games at the Shooting Park.  Since the bulk of the club's revenue came from Sunday games, it was feared the club couldn't make it financially and that Newark might not have a team in 1898.  Fortunately, however, not only did minor league base ball continue in Vailsburg, the owners decided to spend up to $2500 to upgrade the grounds.  Not only would the seating capacity be significantly upgraded, but the right field fence was to be moved back 60 feet and the "annoying gravel bed" near shortstop would be replaced by sand.  The improvements were too late to make any difference to Wagner who was then in his second season  in the majors, but the upgrades helped insure the New Jersey "location" was there for that historic moment.

"A Memorable Honor"

One of the highlights of every Neshanock season is our Memorial Day game in Newtown Pennsylvania against the homestanding Newtown Strakes.  Obviously the pandemic wiped the game out last year and two days of rain, made this year's contest look doubtful.  Fortunately, a change in the weather in addition to the herculean labors of the local grounds crew, got Pickering Field in midseason form.  The game was preceded by Memorial Day ceremonies which honored the late Jim Casey Sr., a local veteran who died this past December.  Mr. Casey was very active in both veterans affairs and youth programs in Newtown and the Neshanock were honored to be part of this ceremony.  We were also very pleased to welcome back umpire Sam "It ain't nothing till I say" Bernstein and wilely veteran Mark "Gaslight" Granieri who is also the official blog photographer.  All of the pictures other than the below image of the Vietnam War Memorial were taken by "Gaslight."

 

Vietnam War Memorial - Washington, D.C.

Flemington won the toss and sent the Strakes up to the striker's line.  After the local club tallied once, the Neshanock matched it with one of their own thanks to Danny "Lefty" Gallagher's base running. He thought he hit a double, but according to the scorebook, it was a muff.  Newtown added two more in the second which Flemington again matched.  Leading the Neshanock's defensive effort in the early going was local star Ken "Tumbles" Mandel who started a double play and pulled of the hidden ball trick.  Flemington took a 5-3 lead going to the top of the fourth, but Newtown more than answered with a five run inning and held an 8-6 lead after four.  

First pitch of the game, called by Sam Bernstein, caught by Rene "Mango" Marrero

Over the next three innings both teams managed only one tally so Newtown still led by two as they batted in the top of the eighth with the opportunity to take charge of the game.  The Strakes took full advantage, tallying seven times and closed out a 16-8 victory led by timely hitting and solid defense both infield and outfield.  The Neshanock offense was led by "Lefty" who had three hits, all doubles, for his second clear score of the season.  One of his doubles would have been a home run had it not been for ground rules that didn't take into account the possibility of hitting one that far.  Something to adjust for next year.   Rene "Mango" Marrero, "Gaslight" and Jeff "Duke" Schneider had two hits apiece with the Newtown defense limiting the rest of the Flemington strikers.  After today's hard fought loss, the Neshanock get back into action quickly, taking on the Elizabeth Resolutes this Saturday at 11:00 at the Howell Living History Farm in Lambertville, New Jersey.

Danny "Lefty" Gallagher sliding into third

Memorial Day is observed on the last Monday in May, although my generation remembers when it was May 30th regardless of the day of the week unless, of course, it fell on a Sunday.  The shift to the last Monday in May went into effect exactly 50 years ago in 1971, but I have no memory of the change.  While that could be put down to old age, the reality is that 50 years ago I had other things on my mind.  May 30, 1971 was the only one of my 75 Memorial Days spent outside the United States, specifically in Camh Ranh Bay, Vietnam.  I had been there less than a week and was more concerned about figuring out what was going on than holidays which weren't observed in a combat zone. It was just one more 12 hour day, a pattern that felt like it would never end.   While I don't remember Memorial Day 1971, the prior Sunday, May 23rd is seared in my mind, it was the worst day of my life - the day I left home for Vietnam.  

Joe "Mick" Murray forces out a Strake runner at third while Dan "Sledge" Hammer looks on.

When I was in college during the mid-1960s there were basically two choices, enroll in ROTC thereby committing to military service as an officer or take one's chance with the draft.  I chose the former option and have never regretted it, but I certainly wasn't looking forward to going to Vietnam.  The journey began with a friend driving me from my parents house to Newark Airport.  After picking me up, he turned around, passing the house I grew up while I wondered if this was the last time I would ever see my parents and sister. Naturally it was a pristine morning and it was pretty obvious most people were getting ready to enjoy a beautiful spring day, a preview of the upcoming Memorial Day weekend.  None of this did anything for my morale and it got worse when I boarded a regular commercial flight to San Francisco and met someone I had known when I was in graduate school.  He was an undergraduate at the time, fully committed to dodging the draft and had been successful  in that effort.  He was pleasant enough, but once he heard where I was going, the look in his eyes showed he never expected to see me again.

The Neshanock discuss pregame strategy

After all of that it was almost a relief when we landed in San Francisco and I could reenter the military without the constant reminders of the contrast between what I was doing and how the rest of the country seemed to be living.  What I was doing was due to my personal choice, but that didn't make the difference any less difficult to accept.  Fortunately, for me, everything worked out in the end.  I received a relatively safe assignment and due to the United States withdrawal, I only spent about eight months "in country."  Even so the 50th anniversary of that miserable day reminds me more than ever of the over 58,000 of my peers who shared those same feelings, but never experienced the joy, if not relief, of returning home safely.  Tragically most of them died before they ever had a chance to live - in many cases without marrying, becoming a father, experiencing the rewards of a vocation, the satisfaction of outside interests and finally enjoying a well earned retirement with grandchildren.

Pregame Ceremonies

Sadly there is nothing that can be done to give them back their lives, not even God can change the past.  There is, however, at least one thing we can do - simple, but profound.  We can remember them.  In her book, Adam Bede, the British author Mary Ann Evans (penname George Eliot) wrote "Our dead are never dead to us until we have forgotten them."   Obviously it's harder to do that with people we never knew, but that doesn't make it any less important or meaningful.  Doing so on Memorial Day is important, but it can and should be done more than once a year.  For example, the next time you see one of us wearing a Vietnam Veterans hat, consider that we might be doing so more for "a memorable honor" for those who never returned than any personal recognition.  

Although written for a different nation in a different war, the words of British poet Laurence Binyon still apply:

     "They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old:

       Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

       At the going down of the sun and in the morning

       We will remember them."

May it always be so!