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Retired Marine Recalls Service in Nyack
Jan. 2007, Historical Society of the Nyacks, P.O. Box 850, Nyack, NY 10960, www.nyackhistory.org -2-
Retired Marine Recalls
Service in Nyack
by Gerald F. Merna
N
yack played an important
part in my life. From 1950 to
1952, I proudly recruited for the U.S.
Marine Corps in Nyack and was
promoted there.
We met many wonderful people
in Nyack and I was fortunate to
enlist some of Nyacks finest citizens
to serve our Corps and country.
Before we married, Dot took the
daily Rockland bus from Piermont
to Main Street to her job as a long
distance operator for the Nyack
Phone Company. I was living in
Piermont then too. We often took
the bus to Nyack for the theater,
ice cream at Eagles store, and to
Charleys bar and restaurant for
his famous turkey and roast beef
sandwiches, and of course, an oc-
casional cold beer.
In 1951, Dot Sedlack and I were
married at St. Johns Church in
Piermont. St. Johns was later de-
stroyed by fire but rebuilt on the
same site in 1964.
Following our honeymoon, we
moved into the old Graycourt
Apartments in Nyack at 127 South
Broadway. As fate would have it,
that building also burned down.
Friends jokingly blamed us for this
fire because we were newlyweds.
One day while walking down
Main Street in my Marine dress
blues, I encountered an attractive
woman walking two fairly large
dogs. Perhaps my uniform caught
her attention. We chatted briefly.
This gracious lady turned out to be
Helen Hayes, The First Lady of the
American Theatre, on her way to
the five and ten cent store as we
used to call both Newberrys and
Woolworths on Main Street.
Years later Dot and I saw a play
in Washington, D.C. that Ms. Hayes
also attended, drawing a large
crowd of course. We were privi-
leged to meet her after the show.
She indicated she remembered
our meeting in Nyack, but whether
or not she did or was just being
kind, it didnt matter. It was great
to see her again.
My recruiting tour was very suc-
cessful, enlisting many Rockland
youths, including several from the
Nyacks. I enjoyed talking to high
school seniors throughout the
county, including my own Tappan
Zee High School. (There were no
protests against military recruiters
in those days.) Here I was, a TZHS
dropout, telling students to finish
school, attend college, and then
join the Marines!
Several youths from my alma
mater, St. Agnes Home and School
for Boys in Sparkill, were among
my recruits. St. Agness legendary
Coach Jim Faulk, a World War II
Marine, often referred young men
who he thought were beyond
even his strict discipline and could
greatly improve by undertaking
boot camp at Parris Island, South
Carolina. As an article in The Journal
News attested, Coach Faulk was
Mr. Everything to the boys.
Calling on prospects parents
to obtain their written consent for
their son to join the Marine Corps
was a very daunting challenge,
considering the war in Korea was in
full force at the time. I dont recall
enlisting any women in Rockland
County, but did so years later on
a second recruiting tour in Owens-
boro, Kentucky. The real proof of
my success was being promoted
to staff sergeant in May of 1951.
I also attended and occasion-
ally spoke about the Marine Corps
during civic meetings, luncheons
and other events. One such occa-
sion was a Cub Scout ceremony at
St. Pauls Methodist Church where
Tech Sergeant Gross and I carried
in two large candle-lit cakes.
Upon my return from Korea in
1953, I decided to make a career
of the Marine Corps, and ended
up serving for 22 years. And, on my
way to Vietnam in 1966, I was com-
missioned as a second lieutenant
after having served in every en-
listed grade from private to master
gunnery sergeant.
My memories of Nyack are deep
and warm. Recruiting in Nyack af-
fected not only our memories, but
greatly influenced our lives, includ-
ing my future assignments.
Mernas wedding reception at the St.
George Hotel. The recently well-restored
complex of office suites at 48 Burd Street
represents the last vestige of Nyacks
great hotel industry. The St. George Ho-
tel was built in 1885 by George Bardin, a
very successful hotelier and restaurateur.
It was the overnight stop for visitors arriv-
ing by steamer from the City, destined
for Suffern, Tuxedo and other interior lo-
cations. The hotel was famous for its din-
ing room and grand breakfasts of flam-
ing rum omelettes which were served to
guests before boarding stagecoaches to
continue their journeys.
Sergeants Gross and Merna at the Rock-
land Theatre for the 1951 showing of Fly-
ing Leathernecks. The theater was one of
the great movie palaces of the era from
about the 1920s to the 1950s, ending in
the late 1960s. Many Broadway tryouts
were staged there. During its early years,
African-Americans were restricted to the
balcony. Torn down in 1978 after being
closed for 11 years, the theatre was on
the west side of North Broadway where
Victoria Mews, an apartment building
with offices, now stands.
The author is a retired first lieutenant,
United States Marine Corps. He holds B.S.
and M.S. degrees from George Washing-
ton University. For more of his memories,
visit the Web site of his Alma Mater, St.
Agnes School, www.stagnesalumni.org
Photo captions by Bob Goldberg, pro-
ducer of When Nyack Meant Business
and many other John Scott Armchair
Walking Tours.