Port Jervis Rotary honors veterans at D-Day remembrance ceremony

Dozens of American flags lined the corner of Sullivan Avenue and East Main Street as Port Jervis Rotary marked the 82nd anniversary of D-Day with a noon remembrance ceremony on June 6. Rotary President Joe Neenan, along with past presidents Amador Laput and Howard Kuperman, read the names of the heroes and their sponsors, turning a downtown intersection into a public tribute.

The ceremony centered on Rotary Flags for Heroes, a recurring project that supports the club’s scholarship program for graduating Port Jervis High School seniors and other community projects. A Port Jervis High School posting says each $50 sponsorship includes a medallion carrying the hero’s name, type of service and the sponsor’s name, which helps explain why sponsor names were part of the observance. Port Jervis Newsroom has described the effort as raising funds that are used entirely for scholarships for local graduating seniors.

The display also reflected how deeply the program has settled into Port Jervis civic life. The flags have become a familiar sight at the same East Main Street and Sullivan Avenue location, and the project has expanded over time, with Rotary surpassing its goal of 100 flags in 2020 and about 65 flags displayed during a 2025 hero salute. A June community calendar listing said musicians were expected to arrive by 11:45 a.m. for the noon ceremony, underscoring that the observance was built as a public event, not a private gathering.

The tribute reached beyond World War II history. Rotary’s Flags for Heroes program recognizes veterans and military members, but also police, fire, first responders, teachers, coaches, mentors, community leaders, parents and children. That wider list gave the ceremony a local frame, showing how Port Jervis uses a national anniversary to honor service in many forms, from the battlefield to the classroom and the firehouse.

For younger residents who did not live through the war years, the ceremony made remembrance visible in the center of daily life. By pairing flags, names and spoken recognition at a busy downtown corner, Port Jervis Rotary kept D-Day memory rooted in the community’s own streets, families and institutions.