July 4—WYOMING — John Yudichak, the new president of Luzerne County Community College, decided to reflect on former U.S. Rep. Dan Flood, who spoke at the Wyoming Monument dedication ceremony on July 4, 1973.
“For Dan Flood, reflecting on the history of the Wyoming Valley was not a trivial endeavor, and the Wyoming Monument was not a relic from a forgotten era,” Yudichak said. “The Wyoming Monument will always stand proudly as an enduring testament to the revolutionary spirit that gave birth to a free, just and prosperous nation.”
But to Congressman Flood and those gathered that day in July 1973, Yudichak said the Wyoming Monument also stood “as a watchful witness to the steadfast resilience of the people of the Wyoming Valley – a people who, ‘through the ages,’ have always found within themselves the tireless will to overcome all threats to the peace and tranquility of our beautiful valley – whether the oppression of a king, the desperation of economic decline, or the cruelty of Mother Nature.”
The Wyoming Commemorative Association held its 146th annual commemoration at the Wyoming Monument to commemorate the 246th anniversary of the Battle and Massacre of Wyoming, the most significant battle in northeastern Pennsylvania during the American Revolution.
Yudichak, a former state senator and representative, discussed Congressman Flood and his fight for aid for Northeastern Pennsylvania.
According to Yudichak, no congressional leader has played a greater role in writing the history of northeastern Pennsylvania and no political leader is more aware of the hardships endured by the people of the Wyoming Valley than Dan Flood.
“From the courage and heroism of Zebulon Butler in the Battle of Wyoming to the reckless legislative battles of Congressman Dan Flood, the never-ending ‘song heard in the future’ is the song of the people of the Wyoming Valley,” Yudichak said. “A song written fresh by the hand of each new generation of Valley settlers. A song that resonates forever through the powerful symbolism of the Wyoming Monument and this glorious, timeless celebration of Independence Day in the Wyoming Valley.”
Yudichak said that on that emotional first anniversary of the Agnes Flood of 1972, Flood was no doubt thinking of all the hardships people in the Wyoming Valley had endured.
Yudichak titled his speech, “A Legislative Warrior: Congressman Dan Flood and the Fight for the People of the Wyoming Valley.” Flood died in 1994 at the age of 90.
“On that hallowed occasion in 1973, Congressman Flood’s eloquent and powerful words reflected his deep reverence for the ‘success story’ that the tireless spirit of the people of the Wyoming Valley had secured throughout the annals of American history,” Yudichak said. “In 1778, the British swept through the Wyoming Valley, turning its idyllic green fields into a burned and bloody graveyard. Wyoming settler Ishmael Bennet left him reflecting on ‘the loss and the ruin seemed universal — the distress that no tongue can describe.'”
Yudichak said Tropical Storm Agnes ripped through the Wyoming Valley in 1972, flooding downtown Wilkes-Barre with more than nine feet of water, wiping out 70 percent of the city’s manufacturing businesses and flooding a third of its residential area.
“Although they are of different ages, and although one event was defined by the horrors of man and the other by the horrors of nature, there is an important historical thread that connects the Battle of Wyoming to the Agnes Flood,” Yudichak said. “Both tragedies were historic turning points that challenged our nation’s humanity and thrust the people of the Wyoming Valley onto the national stage — testing their character, their courage and their perseverance in a way that few communities ever test.”
Yudichak said Flood did not use the Wyoming Monument ceremony as an opportunity to boast about his many legislative accomplishments that had become folklore. He said Flood left his work in Congress to focus solely on the history of the people of the Wyoming Valley.
“Instead, Congressman Flood used his speech at the Wyoming Monument to shine every ray of that day’s spotlight on the strength and resilience of the people of the Wyoming Valley,” Yudichak said. “Flood summed it up this way: ‘We have endured so much, we Valley people,’ including the loss of our greatest industry and the devastation of a terrible flood. But we have also learned so much — the very things that have hurt us have also brought us together.'”
Yudichak said that while recognition of Dan Flood as the unparalleled legislative fighter for northeastern Pennsylvania may have become a distant shadow in the winds of time since his passing, the inspiring legislative accomplishments he accomplished for the people of the Wyoming Valley remain national fixtures of what most Americans have come to fully expect from a just and accountable federal government.
“Daniel J. Flood’s long and storied congressional career, its highs and lows, are forever etched in the sheet music of history and in the memorable chorus he added to the ‘Song Heard in the Future’ – a song that perfectly captures the inexhaustible resilience and strength of the people of the Wyoming Valley,” Yudichak said.
Yudichak served in the Pennsylvania Senate for 12 years and in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for 12 years.
After leaving the Senate, he served as a senior advisor at GSL Public Strategies Group and on July 1 began serving as president of Luzerne County Community College.
Yudichak is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University and holds a master’s degree in American studies from Penn State. He is a board member of the Earth Conservancy and has served on the boards of the Luzerne Foundation, the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, and the Pennsylvania State Higher Education Authority.
About the Wyoming Monument
On July 3, 1778, the fields surrounding the current monument ran red with the blood of patriots slaughtered during the Revolutionary War by a joint force of British troops and their Iroquois allies.
Construction of the monument, which marks the graves of the victims’ bones, began in July 1833, but was halted due to lack of funds when the monument reached 6 metres (20 ft) high.
Construction resumed in 1841 when the Ladies Luzerne Monumental Association, which became the Wyoming Monument Association in 1860, raised funds to complete the monument at a cost of $8,000.
The gathering is a tradition dating back to 1878, the centennial of the Battle of Wyoming.
On the 100th anniversary of the battle on July 3, 1878, a memorial service was held where more than 50,000 people attended to hear the event’s keynote speaker, U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes.
Locals often associate the ceremony with July 4, the day it is often held. However, the association notes, it has always been customary to hold the commemoration on July 3, when the 4th falls on a Sunday.
In July 2010, Dr. Joseph Mattioli and his wife, Dr. Rose—both now deceased—donated $100,000 to the Wyoming Monument Association to fund the restoration of the lightning-damaged historic monument.
The Mattiolis were guests of honor at the annual memorial ceremony at the site of the 1778 Battle of Wyoming.
The event was chaired by Marian Czarnowski, treasurer of the Wyoming Monument Association and board member of the Wyoming Commemorative Association.
The minister present at the event was Reverend Richard Bradshaw of the Forty Fort United Methodist Church.
The Wyoming Valley Band performed patriotic songs.
Contact Bill O’Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.
