The grand marshal of the 2025 parade was former Mayor Richard A. Rutkowski, who served in the U.S. Army in the 1950s. He was posted to Iran, where he trained Iranian troops. He shook hands with the Shah of Iran. Rutkowski was at the Russian border during the Iraqi crisis of 1958. Following his military service, former Mayor Rutkowski became active in various veterans’ posts, including: American Polish Vets, Catholic War Veterans Post 1612, Joyce-Herbert VFW Post 226, and Captain. P.J.E. Hogan Disabled American Veterans Chapter 5. Along with many other veterans, Rutkowski speaks at the historic Joyce-Herbert V.F.W. Post 226 Veterans Museum, educating our youth and community about our military history.

Pete Amadeo, the Supervisor of the City of Bayonne’s Recreation Division, has worked with Barry Jones, the parade chairman, and the other veterans on the Memorial Day Parade Committee to invite various organizations to take part in the parade in both 2022 and 2023. Mr. Jones is an Army veteran from the Vietnam era.

There was a ceremony at the traditional start of the parade on Memorial Day, Monday, May 26, at 10:00 a.m., at Fifth Street by the World War I Monument. Immediately after the ceremony, the march began at 5th Street and proceeded up Broadway. It passed the reviewing stand in front of American Legion Post 19 and will end at 32nd Street and Broadway.

Mayor Davis stated, “From the American Revolution to the present, more than 42 million Americans have served in our military during war. Of them, more than one million died in the service, whether in battle or elsewhere during wartime.” Mayor Davis concluded, “Veterans often remind us that ‘freedom is not free.’ That means that America’s fighting men and women have purchased our freedom with their sacrifices since 1775. We owe our freedom and our way of life to them. Please show your gratitude for those who gave their lives for our country by coming to the memorial ceremonies and to the parade.”