Posted May 30, 2022

As war rages in Ukraine, local Ukrainian Catholic clergy led prayers at the graves of Ukrainian-American veterans on Memorial Day, gathering for a panakhyda, a short liturgy for the dead, at St. Mary Ukrainian Catholic Cemetery in Jenkintown.

(Read a feature story on the May 30 prayer service.)

The commemoration has taken on new significance for the Ukrainian American community, as the current Russian invasion of Ukraine — now the focus of numerous genocide and war crime investigations — has claimed thousands of lives while displacing over 14 million.

(Photos by Gina Christian.)

  • Members of the Ukrainian American Veterans Post 1 stand at attention during a Memorial Day prayer service at St. Mary Ukrainian Catholic Cemetery in Jenkintown.

  • Ukrainian American Veterans members John Rittenhouse Hill (left) and Eugene Zyblikewycz described Russian aggression against Ukraine as longstanding and genocidal.

  • A member of the Ukrainian American Veterans Post 1 plays “Taps” during a Memorial Day prayer service at St. Mary Ukrainian Catholic Cemetery in Jenkintown, May 30.

  • Father John Ciurpita (left) and Father Roman Pitula (right) lead a Memorial Day prayer service at St. Mary Ukrainian Catholic Cemetery in Jenkintown, May 30.

  • During the Memorial Day service, Ed Zetick, commander of Ukrainian American Veterans (UAV) Post 1, read the names of UAV members who had passed away over the last 18 months.

  • Deceased Ukrainian American veterans were honored at the May 30 service with a wreath of sunflowers, the national flower of Ukraine, and wheat, a symbol of the Holodomor, Joseph Stalin’s 1932-33 artificial famine that killed between 4 to 6.5 million Ukrainians.

  • Participants listen to a performance of “Taps” during a Memorial Day prayer service at St. Mary Ukrainian Catholic Cemetery in Jenkintown, May 30.