TodayA day of remembering
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Article RatingHeather Stauffer hstauffer@cumberlink.com
Boiling Springs was festive Sunday afternoon as residents turned out for the 60th annual Memorial Day parade sponsored by VFW Post No. 8851.
"They love parades," said Michael Lynch, who came with his three children to watch the parade. The family lives just over the hill from the high school, he explained, and so every year he and the children come down and wait near the start of the parade, then follow participants as they wend their way to the clock tower.
"It's a great day for a parade," said Nancy Grove, standing nearby with her husband, Russ. "We've been coming every year."
Like many other parents along the way, the Groves were watching for a child: Their daughter, Brittany, was marching in the junior high band. Because of the heat, the middle-schoolers were granted a boon not extended to their high school compatriots: Permission to wear shorts.
"We're going to the pool afterward, so we're going to be OK," said band member and seventh-grader Hannah Lanious, standing in the shade of a tree before the parade began.
"I think it's a fine tribute," said Don McCain, sitting on the front porch of his daughter's house along the parade route. McCain, 69, served in the Air Force from 1954-58, and said he was glad to see the community remembering those who died, especially since America is in a war.
"If you can't be there for them physically, be there for them mentally," he said. McCain also commented that he thought the large number of fire engines and ambulances in the parade was fitting, since many members of the military are in service positions.
Most of the audience gathered near the clock tower, where the parade passed before the official Memorial Day ceremony began.
They clapped for the vehicle proclaiming "Welcome Home U.S. Marines!" and for a little girl in an inflatable bull suit. They smiled at the Bonny Brook Riding Club, which included Linglestown resident Gladys Wills and her children Cody Joe, 5, and Misty Joy, 3, strapped together on one saddle. And they bent to pick up candy scattered by rider Lauren Wilson, whose mount sported a red-white-and-blue mane, glittery coat and ribbon-festooned tail.
Representing VFW Post 8851and its ladies auxilliary were Ron Lebo and Doris Rowe.
"We're celebrating 60 years this year," said Rowe of the VFW, proudly.
Perched on the back of their car was Rowe's 8-year-old great-granddaughter, Aaliyah Mahanes, in a blue velour dress and white apron and cap, clutching a flag in an embroidery hoop.
"I'm Betsy Ross," said Mahanes, explaining that she was pretending to be woman whom history credits with sewing the first American flag.
Also taking part in the parade were members of the Wizards, an under-10 girls soccer team.
"They're to hand out and get money for," said 9-year-old Paige Blakesslee of the red flowers she carried. The money, she said, would go to help veterans.
The crowd's mood, jubilant during the parade, sobered quickly once the ceremony began. This year's speaker was retired Sgt. Larry Babbitts, who served and was wounded in both Korea and Vietnam, earning two Purple Hearts.
"All those who died in uniform for the United States are undeniably heroes," said Babbitts. Although not all their names appear in history books, Babbitts said, one would need only to talk to their families to learn of the valor of their sacrifices.
"Ask the son of a soldier who died in captivity," he said. "As the family of a female soldier who died on a highway in Kuwait."
"They are indeed heroes," he said, and the crowd burst into applause. It was to celebrate the gift of freedom, purchased by the blood of patriots, that the crowd gathered, Babbitts said, and he urged his hearers not to forget the prisoners of war and those missing in action.
Babbitts' comments fit in well with what Gary Blakesley, a Navy veteran and commander of the VFW, said before the parade began.
"This isn't about us," Blakesley said, in reference to himself and other veterans who are still living. "It's a chance to recognize the people who died for our country."
