What began as one man’s way to honor fallen soldiers has become an annual memorial that rocks the Capital District.
“Operation: Please Remember Me” began two years ago in 2013 as the dream of Tom Regan to honor his fallen friends. Now, it has become an annual occurrence that can be seen along Route 9 in the City of Albany and Town of Colonie. Flags were hung this past weekend, Saturday, May 16, and county residents gathered in Colonie to observe the motorcade.
“It’s a pretty sobering thing when you think about it,” said Regan of the sight of hundreds of flags lining Route 9. “It’s like you struck a nerve.” Each of the 120 flags represents 10 soldiers who have died since World War II from the Capital District.
The motorcade began so that Gold Star families, who lost sons, daughters or grandchildren in a war, could observe the flags hung from National Grid poles along Route 9. Town and county officials, including Albany County Executive Dan McCoy, Town of Colonie Supervisor Paula Mahan, and Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan, preceded the Gold Star organization. Following were Patriot Guard and American Legion riders.
“This is a wonderful project,” said Mahan. “It’s a vision from Tom Regan, who was a veteran to came to be with this vision. It’s just a wonderful project, and it’s a great way to honor those who have served our country. We look forward to it every year.”
The flags, obtained through thousands of dollars in donations from not only large corporations like Trustco Bank, but also community members, will remain hanging until around July 4. National Grid donated the use of its utility poles to hang the flags.
Regan, a Vietnam veteran who served in the Navy, said that “Operation: Please Remember Me” came about from a conversation with his son, who was preparing for a reunion. “He was all excited about seeing his buddies he hadn’t seen in a year,” said Regan.
Regan said he lost several good friends in the Vietnam War, along with other people he knew. His son suggested he do something to honor them. As a lineman for National Grid, he thought that hanging flags would be a good way to remember the soldiers who had died.
“It started dollar by dollar by dollar, pole by pole, bracket by bracket, and that’s where we are today,” said Regan. “120 flags represents over 1,200 men and women killed since World War II.”
When first researching the number of soldiers who had died, “Please Remember Me” Secretary and Treasurer Gene Loparco said that he only concentrated on Albany County, where over 400 soldiers had died since World War II. However, he expanded his search to the entire Capital District, including Schenectady, Saratoga and Rensselaer.
According to Loparco’s research, 1,228 men and women have died in war from the area. “And that’s who we honor and remember,” said Loparco, a Vietnam veteran who served in the Air Force.
Loparco said he remembered that when Vietnam soldiers returned, they received dirty looks and got spit upon. “As far as I’m concern, we forgot about that. You see fatigues anywhere now, go up and thank them for service. I want to give back.”
The reaction to “Operation: Please Remember Me” has been overwhelmingly positive, said Regan. Without the community support Regan has seen, he said the project would never have gotten off the ground.
He said the flags only go up for a short while so that people don’t start taking the sight for granted. They go up shortly before Memorial Day as a reminder that, while a time to spend with family, veterans should be remembered on the holiday.
“It’s amazing because people really miss them when they come down,” said Regan. “We had our fundraiser and we didn’t realize how many people would come. But they understand it. This is the third year, and I think the community really, really gets it.”
The motorcade began on Northern Boulevard and traveled up Route 9 until Route 155, which Loparco said used to be a military highway in George Washington’s time. It ended at the Joseph E. Zaloga Post 1520 of the American Legion, where a reception was held for the Gold Star Mothers organization.
“We owe these families a great debt,” Regan said of the Gold Star families. “We just want them to understand that we miss their kids too.”
