Sussex County Memorial Day events include returning sands of Iwo Jima to WWII vet

NEWTON — What do a young Marine vet, an American Legion post commander and a Gold Star Mother have in common?

The answer: A small glass bottle filled with volcanic ash from Iwo Jima, site of one of the bloodiest battles of World War II's Pacific theater.

On Monday, as part of Newton's Memorial Day ceremonies, that bottle, festooned with a red-white-and-blue ribbon, will be presented to Katherine Cook, the Gold Star Mother whose son died while on active duty. He had previously served tours in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The presentation will be made by Harry Kaplan, from Newton's American Legion Post 86, to Cook. The bottle will later be presented to Jacob "Jake" Yanoff, 96, who was to be one of two of the town's Memorial Day parade grand marshals.

Yanoff was among the American who stormed Iwo Jima. He has been hospitalized and can't make Monday's event, but he'll still be among the many local veterans honored this weekend.

Besides Newton, Sparta, Stanhope, Vernon and several other towns will host Memorial Day festivities. (See list below.)

The other grand marshal will be Joseph Monaco, a Navy veteran of the early 1960s and a member for more than 40 years of Newton's VFW Post 5360. His ship, the USS Newport News, was involved in the Cuban Missile Crisis.

The Newton parade begins at 10 a.m. and will march along Spring and Moran streets to Memory Park where the Sands of Iwo Jima will be presented to Cook to then be taken to Yanoff.

Kaplan said he had attended a Gold Star Mothers event in Sussex County earlier in the year when he heard Cook's story about Yanoff, the grandfather of her daughter's husband. Yanoff was three days shy of his 18th birthday when he began boot camp and after graduating from infantry training, boarded a ship in Hawaii.

It was only when the ship was at sea that the word came down that their landing would be on Iwo Jima, a small but tactically important island. It held a Japanese airbase whose planes could intercept U.S. bombers headed to the Japanese home islands.

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On Feb. 19, 1945, Yanoff was part of the second wave of Marines storming the island. On March 3, the battle still raged and Yanoff was on extended guard duty when his position came under fire. A mortar round struck the foxhole where his partner was sleeping, killing him and wounding Yanoff.

Yanoff was evacuated to the island of Saipan and then to a hospital in Hawaii. When he recovered, he rejoined his outfit, which had returned to Hawaii to prepare for the invasion of Japan. In August, 1945, the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki ended the war and made those preparations moot. Yanoff was discharged in May, 1946, and returned to New Jersey.

So, what about the bottle of sand?

Kaplan, the American Legion member, serves as a school crossing guard in Newton. On one recent morning he got to talking with a parent and discovered the dad is a Marine − once a Marine, always a Marine.

"He told me he had been to Iwo Jima when he was stationed in Japan," Kaplan recounted. "Iwo Jima is very private now, but he was able to get a tour and brought home some of the volcanic ash.

That marine, Hobie Wanamaker, donated part of his souvenir to Kaplan to be presented to Yanoff. With him being in the hospital, the presentation will be to Cook during the Memory Park ceremony.

Here's a listing of more local events planned for this weekend:

Sussex County Memorial Day events

HOPATCONG — The borough opens the Memorial Day festivities with a parade Saturday, beginning at 10 a.m. at the Department of Public Works garage on River Styx Road. The route will travel about a mile through town before ending at Veterans Park, where a short ceremony will follow.

BRANCHVILLE — The annual borough parade, featuring numerous local politicians, community groups and veterans, kicks off at 10 a.m. Monday on Broad Street before continuing along Wantage Avenue.

The parade will be followed by a ceremony at Branchville Park, with remarks from Major Thomas Fite from Picatinny Arsenal and a 21-gun salute by the American Legion Post 157 color guard. Parade attendees are then invited to enjoy food and live music at the Branchville Fire Department on Railroad Avenue.

This year's parade grand marshal is Jerry Snook, a 96-year-old Army veteran. The master of ceremonies is Aldo Sayre, a Navy veteran who turns 102 on June 5.

STILLWATER — The township's 19th annual Memorial Day service will take place at 10 a.m. Monday at Veterans Memorial Park. The ceremony will include remarks from students and a veteran from Stillwater about what the holiday means to them, and recognition of residents living and dead who served in military conflicts.

SPARTA — The Memorial Day parade sponsored by Sparta VFW Post 7248 begins at 10 a.m. Monday on East Shore Trail along Lake Mohawk. Roughly two dozen township organizations will march on the parade route, which ends in Dykstra Park. Afterward, the VFW will host a complimentary meal and refreshments at the post on Main Street.

VERNON — Wallkill Valley VFW Post 8441 will host a Memorial Day parade beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Vernon Dairy Queen on Route 94. The procession will proceed to Veterans' Memorial Park on Vernon Crossing Road, where the VFW will hold a brief ceremony in honor of former service members.

STANHOPE — The annual Memorial Day parade organized by the Musconetcong American Legion Post 278 will get underway at 1 p.m. Monday, with a ceremony to follow. The parade will begin at the Netcong Elementary School on College Road in Netcong and will end at the American Legion on Route 183 in Stanhope.

Bruce A. Scruton can be reached by email: BScruton@njherald.com or by phone: 973-383-1224.  Kyle Morel is at kmorel@njherald.com; Twitter: @KMorelNJH

This article originally appeared on New Jersey Herald: Sussex County NJ Memorial Day weekend 2023: parades, ceremonies