RET FF PAUL ZYDOR R*2....On 1-31-19 at 87 yrs of age ....Services already held.... REST IN PEACE BROTHER.....THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE BOTH MILITARY (US NAVY KOREA) & FDNY.....PRAYERS FOR THE COMFORT OF THE FAMILIES...... www.legacy.com/obituaries/newsday/obituary.aspx?n=paul-zydor&pid=191464626& ...... PREVIOUS NEWS STORY...Heroes to remember heroes in Merrick
Posted May 18, 2017
Veteran Paul Zydor, pictured in 1951, will be the Grand Marshal at this year?s annual Memorial Day Parade in Merrick.
COURTESY RICHARD AMBROSINO
By Erik Hawkins
On Memorial Day, May 29, members of the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars and Jewish War Veterans will march through the streets in honor of all their comrades who made the ultimate sacrifice.
This year?s annual Memorial Day parade?s Grand Marshal will be Paul Zydor, who has served as Commander of the VFW Merrick/Freeport Post 1310 for more than 40 years, and was recognized in 2015 as the Town of Hempstead?s Veteran of the Year for his dedication to the veterans community.
?Paul Zydor is a true example of what it means to be an American,? said Richard Ambrosino, a volunteer with Merrick American Legion Post No. 1282.
Zydor was born and raised in Freeport. In 1947, he joined the United States Navy where he was deployed many times during his active duty service, serving during the Korean War, and was deployed on the USS Grampus Submarine SS-523 and the USS Yellowstone AD-27.
While in the Navy, Zydor received many decorations and service medals. As a submariner aboard the USS Grampus, Zydor was on-board the fastest submarine in the U.S. Navy Fleet. According to Ambrosino, Zydor was always first to volunteer for difficult and dangerous assignments. He was one of the only Navy personnel at the time who volunteered to test the ?100 foot free escape? under water. The training simulated how a submariner would escape from a disabled submarine, however, in this case, without a supporting re-breathing apparatus. Zydor was placed in an airlock 100 feet underwater and once the airlock was filled up with water he had to surface from the lock to the surface. He succeeded in doing the exercise two times.
In 1954, Zydor was honorably discharged from military service and returned home to Merrick. In 1956, he met his future wife Marguerite whom he has been married to for 61 years. The couple has four children whom were all raised in Merrick and number of grandchildren. In 1957, Zydor joined the New York City Fire Department where he was assigned to Ladder 10 and later assigned in 1960 to the prestigious FDNY Rescue Co. 2.
In 1972, he joined the Veterans of Foreign Wars. The VFW advocates for all veterans, encourages cameraderie, serves the community and promotes patriotism.
Zydor also currently sits on the Nassau County Veterans Service Agency Advisory Board, Congresswomen Kathleen Rice?s Veterans Advisory Board and the Freeport Village Veterans Advisory Council. He has dedicated his life to public service and will continue to do so for years to come, said Ambrosino.
Also in honor of Memorial Day, The Camp Avenue Barber Shop at 22 Camp Avenue is giving a $2 discount on a haircut from until May 28 to all veterans when they present a County Veterans ID Card or a current membership card from a recognized Veterans Organization.
Monday?s parade will start at 9:30 a.m. at Broadcast Plaza and conclude, with a ceremony at Merrick?s Veterans Memorial Park at 10:45.
Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who died in service of the United States. It was born out of the Civil War and a desire to honor the dead. General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, on May 5, 1868, in his General Order #11, officially proclaimed ?The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, of otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country in the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land.?
On the first Decoration Day, General James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, and 5,000 participants decorated the graves of the 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers buried there. The first state to officially recognize the holiday was New York in 1873. By 1890, it was recognized by all the northern states. The South refused to acknowledge the day, honoring their dead on separate days until after World War I (when the holiday changed from honoring just those who died fighting in the Civil War to honoring Americans who fought in any war).
With Congressional passage of the National Holiday Act of 1971, Memorial Day is now observed in almost every state on the last Monday in May,
? Information courtesy Past Commander Gunny Lewis, American Legion Post 10, Manassas, VA
