Banners Installed to Honor Local Veterans

by Cindy Goldstein -

This week the first of the banners honoring local veterans will be installed along Village streets.  An effort led by local residents Amy Siskind and Pat Allen who worked with the Village of Mamaroneck in partnership to install banners along Mamaroneck and Halstead Avenues and Boston Post Road.  See HERE.

The Mamaroneck Observer will publish profiles of some of the honorees.  As you se

e the banners on the street here’s some information on the individuals who served.

Staff Sergeant USMC Soloman “Solly” I. Blechman

A 1938 graduate of Mamaroneck High School, Blechman also graduated from Union College.  He enlisted in June 1942 and became a Marine Corps combat correspondent.  He died shortly after his involvement in the invasion of Guam in July 1944.  Blechman’s commanding officer stated that he “died of wounds received on the beach as he bravely chose to follow the group having the toughest time of it” at age 23 and was buried at sea.  He was awarded a Purple Heart.

Blechman traveled with his typewriter and wrote more than 500 stories about Third Division Marines.  He started his reporting career at college, becoming Managing Editor of the Concordiensis, the bi-weekly paper.  In addition, he covered college sport news and campus activity news for the Knickerbockers-News and The Schenectady Union Star.  After graduation, Staff Sgt. Blechman worked as a sportswriter for the Mamaroneck Daily Times. 

MHS yearbook includes Solly as a member of the Hi-Y Club, Record, Los Gauchos, Cross Country, Intra-Mural Basketball and Baseball, Manager of Wrestling, and first prize winner of the Harbor Island Contest and American Legion Essay Contest.  Blechman was the son of Rabbi and Mrs. Nathan Blechman and resided at 530 Palmer Avenue.  Staff Sgt. Soloman Blechman was one of the youngest combat reporters in the war.

Sergeant Vernon L. Kemmerer, Jr.

Kemmerer graduated from Mamaroneck High School Class in 1941.  He was member of the Mixed Glee Club, Capella Choir, Male Quartet, the Band and the Orchestra.  The MHS 1941 Yearbook states that Vernon Kemmerer aspired toward chemistry.  His father, Vernon L. Kemmerer, Sr., was a beloved science teacher at MHS and taught there for 30 years before retiring in 1964.  He lived at 1527 James Street. 

“Vernon was the son of our MHS physics teacher.  Mr. Kemmerer was called out of his class one day and did not return because he had been told that his only child had been killed.  The whole school mourned with him.”

Muriel Marvin, MHS Class of 1942

Sergeant Kemmerer was awarded the Purple Heart.  He was approximately 22 years old.

Specialist Third Class U.S. Naval Reserve Timothy J. Manning

While waiting for their son to arrive for the Thanksgiving holiday in 1944, his family received a message stating that their son had been missing in action since October 31^st.  He was approximately 27 years old, had attended Mamaroneck High School and lived at 817 West Post Road.

Manning entered the Navy in May 1943 and was assigned to sea duty in January 1944.

“Missing in Action since October 31” was the message received Thanksgiving Day by his family as they waited for him to arrive on leave for the holiday.  Later the family was informed that he had been killed in a plane crash in Europe on October 30 and was buried at the Normandy American Cemetery in St. Laurent-sur-Mer, France. 

He was survived by his parents Mr. and Mrs. Timothy Manning of 105 Delancey Avenue, Mamaroneck, and his wife, the former Ethel Johnson of Harrison.