SUGAR NOTCH, Pa. -- John Ginley, 90 of Sugar Notch, served in the Army stateside during World War II.
On Memorial Day, he thinks of those he grew up with who went to war and never returned to the community known as 'The Notch.'
"I knew a lot of these guys that got killed. I feel bad about it," said Ginley.
This Memorial Day, Sugar Notch looked back 70 years to when the community was in the national spotlight.
In 1948, former Congressman Dan Flood and former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt came to Sugar Notch to unveil a monument to former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the community's war dead.
The reenactment brought history to life.
"I was here when she came through," said Ginley.
John Ginley is moved when the ceremony turns to a more traditional observance.
He turns to the names engraved on the Roosevelt Monument.
"It takes me back. Some of the guys that I grew up with, they were younger than me," said Ginley.
People in Sugar Notch don't mind people calling their Memorial Day observances non-traditional. It is a day to observe a community rich in history and rich in heroes who gave all to their community and country.