Page 12 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • May 20, 2009 Midland Park Orie Schaper has been selected to be the grand marshal of this year’s Memorial Day Parade in Midland Park. The traditional parade, to take place on Saturday, May 23, is scheduled to step off from the parking lot behind the municipal building at 10 a.m. Judge Charles Ryan, a Vietnam veteran, will be the featured speaker during the Memorial Service starting at 11 a.m. at Veterans Plaza. Free hot dogs and soda will follow at the firehouse on Witte Drive. The entire community is invited. Dr. Alan Kooreman, speaking during last week’s meeting of the mayor and Schaper to lead parade; Ryan to speak at service council, urged parade participants and spectators to observe proper decorum during the parade and services, reminding everyone of the solemnity of Memorial Day observances. Schaper, 86, has been a borough resident since emigrating from Holland when he was three years old. After the Pearl Harbor attack, he enlisted in the Navy because of a desire to be aboard ship. He had his basic training at Manhattan Beach Training Station in Brooklyn, NY and had to sleep in the gym because the other facilities weren’t ready. He was then assigned to port security on the docks Orie Schaper in Hoboken and living at the YMCA there. After serving shore duty for seven months, he asked to be reassigned to the Coast Guard so he could be at sea. His ship, the USS Camell, escorted a convoy to England but was decommissioned upon its return to Boston. While waiting for another assignment, his superiors learned that he spoke fluent Dutch and sent his to Aruba for 18 months as an interpreter in negotiations with the Netherlands’ government in exile there. Back stateside, his ship was getting ready for the invasion of Japan, when the war ended, so he filled out the last nine months of his enlistment in New York City interviewing seamen for the merchant marines. Upon his discharge in March, 1946 as a signalman, 3rd Class, Schaper returned to Midland Park, married his fiancée, (continued on page 29) In Home PERSONAL TRAINING • Flexible Scheduling • Nutrition Guidance • Sports Specific Training • Men, Women, Children & Couples With Brad Lose 20 lbs in 10 Weeks Insured Degreed & Certified For Free Consultation call: TONE UP/LOSE FAT/ FEEL GREAT 201-925-0381 ee fr 3-18-09 Janine AtlanticSteward6x6(2-25-09)