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9/11 REMEMBERED: Old Glory with special significance to fly on 9/11

September 10, 2011 Helen Klein

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On September 11, tribute will be paid to the father of a localresident who served with the U.S. Army in Panama in the early yearsof the century.

The American flag that draped Achille Renzulli’s coffin – placedthere in 1963 by an Army Honor Guard, after Renzulli died at theage of 57 – will fly over John Paul Jones Park on the 10thanniversary of the terrorist attacks, on a day when hundreds if notthousands of people are expected to attend events at the park inmemory of those who perished at the World Trade Center.

While I am thankful that my father’s flag will be flown in ourcommunity, it remains a symbol to all of us who hold our countrydear, and to those who continue to protect us and our freedom,said Bay Ridge resident Marie Ortel, Renzulli’s daughter, who hadkept the flag in pristine condition for 48 years.

It was local activist Ralph Perfetto, Ortel’s significant other,who got the ball rolling.

He was an ordinary man but with an extraordinary pride in beingan American, and he never forgot his allegiance and service to ourcountry, Perfetto said of Renzulli.

The cause was subsequently picked up by Jerry Kassar, chief ofstaff to State Senator Marty Golden and Fran Vella-Marrone,president of the Dyker Heights Civic Association, who worked withArthur DeCesario, a local parks manager for New York City Parks andRecreation, to make the arrangements.

I thought it was an excellent way to memorialize a veteran,noted Kassar.