From LONG ISLAND – by Ann Parry (ann-parry.com)
June 25, 2025

• 18 videos of Dad talking about his WWII photos are near end of this post

a photographic memory

Dad died January 6, 2014, eight years to the day after Mom died.

Aunt Clare, our family powerhouse, came to Long Island from Maryland to help. My brother Lou’s family in North Carolina also wanted to come.

But I was so overwhelmed just thinking about what lay ahead, I asked Lou to wait until he could help me pack up the family house. He and his wife Sarah were teachers, and I knew they couldn’t take off from work twice. Lou agreed to wait.

So I captured photos during Dad’s military funeral and made sure that family, especially Lou, saw “straight out of the camera” images right away. 

I didn’t feel up to working on Dad’s funeral photos back then, but they were popping up in my mind more and more lately, so I finally processed them.

Today I sent Lou the link to this post.

Long Island National Cemetery 2014

Farmingdale, N.Y., U.S. January 10, 2014. Honor Guard, holding bugle, salutes during final farewell for veteran SSgt Lester Parry at Long Island National Cemetery. (© 2014 Ann Parry/AnnParry.com) 

Dad wanted to be a pilot in the U.S. military during WWII. However, a fly ball hit one of his eyes when he was a teenager, causing blindness in that eye for months, and he didn’t qualify for pilot in the military eye exam.

(It was a great disappointment, but it might also have been great luck. If Dad had passed the eye exam and become a bomber, the most dangerous position for U.S. military, the odds of him surviving the war and going on to have a family would have been much lower.)

When Dad’s Army General Classification Test (AGCT) performance showed he had a photographic memory, he was assigned to intelligence in the U.S. Army Air Force, a member of the Mediterranean Allied Air Forces.

Farmingdale, New York, U.S. January 10, 2014. Honor Guards fold an American flag into a triangle during final farewell for veteran SSgt Lester Parry at Long Island National Cemetery. (© 2014 Ann Parry/AnnParry.com) 

The simple, solemn Honor Guard ceremony during his military funeral was a moving thank you for Dad’s service to our country.

Three generations of our family heard the Honor Guard play taps on the bugle and witnessed them slowly, precisely fold the American flag into a triangle.

Farmingdale, New York, U.S. January 10, 2014. Honor Guard salutes during final farewell for veteran SSgt Lester Parry at Long Island National Cemetery. (© 2014 Ann Parry/AnnParry.com) 

As cemetery staff removed the engraved granite plaque from the niche in the columbarium, my younger daughter Laurie held that flag, and my older daughter Sue helped keep her toddler son – Mom and Dad’s first great-grandchild – entertained. When Sue herself was a toddler, she was the first ever to call Dad “Papa Les.”

Farmingdale, New York, U.S. January 10, 2014. Staff member removes granite plaque covering niche for ashes in columbarium, during final farewell for SSgt Lester Parry, with family attending, at Long Island National Cemetery. (© 2014 Ann Parry/AnnParry.com) 

It was my honor, my duty to place Dad’s ashes in the niche. Looking back, it was one of three times in my life – once before and once after that day – that I absolutely had to dissociate my mind from my emotions to do what had to get done. 

Farmingdale, New York, U.S. January 10, 2014. On the ground, a granite plaque for SSgt Lester Parry and Mary Ann Parry is ready to be placed over niche in Columbarium A1 Row C Site 47 during military funeral at Long Island National Cemetery. (© 2014 Ann Parry/AnnParry.com) 

open house

Along with the small family gathering at the military funeral, we had an open house celebrating Dad’s life.

Dad was a member of Merrick Post #1282 American Legion, and my daughters and I were members of the Auxiliary. So we warmly welcomed fellow members who joined the celebration 

Months earlier, Past Post Commander (Robert) Tom Riordan – a dear, supportive friend of our family – had his own final roll call, and I like to think Tom had already signed Dad up to the American Legion post in their new neighborhood. 

Long Island, New York, U.S. June 22, 2025. This moth orchid, seen in close up, arrived from my brother Lou when our dad died 11 years ago. (© 2025 Ann Parry/AnnParry.com) 

Lou, Sarah, and their daughter Elizabeth sent a potted moth orchid that arrived in time to take an honored place in the living room bay window during the open house.

And months later, instead of packing up the family house, I decided to stay there. Our younger brother John had tragically died decades earlier, and Lou made it incredibly easy to buy his half of the home.

So the orchid plant still sits in the bay window, blooming pale pink flowers each winter.

Long Island, New York, U.S. June 22, 2025. This moth orchid now resting between blooms, arrived from my brother Lou when our dad died 11 years ago. (© 2025 Ann Parry/AnnParry.com) 

Video Showcase 2011 

In this series of short videos from 2011, Dad tells about his WWII photos and related mementos, childhood photos, and recites from memory the poem “Mully Pounds the Keys” by his French American Banking Corporation colleague Walter Anderson.

 • CLICK “Start watching” at bottom of first video – or – scroll down this showcase to the video you want to watch:

FEATURE PHOTO (at top of post): Farmingdale, New York, U.S. January 10, 2014. Honor Guard begins ceremony of folding American Flag during military funeral of veteran Lester Parry at Long Island National Cemetery. (© 2011 Ann Parry/AnnParry.com)

Final Farewell to Papa Les (2014):  my PHOTO GALLERY

Orchid Plant (2025):  my PHOTO GALLERY

Video Showcase (2011) Lester Parry WWII:  vimeo.com/showcase/10056436

Lester Parry recites “Mully Pounds the Keys” by colleague Walter Anderson: vimeo.com/annparry/parryanderson

Long Island National Cemetery: cem.va.gov/cems/nchp/LongIsland.asp

Merrick Post #1282 American Legion: merrickpost1282.org

Veterans Crisis Hotline:  call 988 and select 1  •  text 838255
• more info:  veteranscrisisline.net

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