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Parade today

The Tribune Chronicle will host the Trumbull County Veterans Day parade honoring veterans today in downtown Warren. The parade will follow the Trumbull County Veterans Day Federation annual ceremony, set for 11 a.m. at the Warren Community Amphitheatre.

The parade will step off at approximately 12:15 p.m., and will travel from Perkins Park, south on Mahoning Avenue, east on Market Street and north on Vine Street, ending at High Street.

WARREN - Five area World War II veterans - three of whom have known one another since attending Harding High School - visited the World War II Memorial, Vietnam Memorial and other monuments around Washington, D.C., as guests of Honor Flight Cleveland.

Harold Shively, Raymond Henry, Paul Wilson, John Hyre and Glenn Russell were honored and humbled to join 65 other members of "The Greatest Generation" on Oct. 21 for a day-long tour of the nation's capital.

Honor Flight Cleveland is part of a network dedicated to providing WWII veterans trips to the World War II Memorial and other war memorials in the Washington area. The organization seeks to take 70 vets a month from April through October, paying for all their expenses during the visit.

"Honor Flight was started in Springfield, Ohio, by an Air Force retiree Earl Morris, who wanted to help a few of his friends get to the monument, shortly after it opened," said Joe Benedict, director of flight operations of the Cleveland chapter. "Soon the idea spread to other locations."

The organization is focused on getting the WWII vets to their memorial because it is something they have waited to have built for 62 years.

"The average age of the people we take is 86 years old," Benedict said. "Some are over 90."

Approximately 1,100 WWII veterans die each day, according to the Veterans Administration.

"We were able to see the World War II Memorial, the Korean War Memorial, a re-enactment of the raising of the flag at Iwo Jima and the placement of a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier," Wilson said. "That was a highly emotional moment."

Because many of the veterans are in wheelchairs or have infirmities, the organization also has 40 volunteers to escort the veterans.

"They treated us like heroes," Henry said. "Although, most of us simply feel we were among millions of Americans who served our country after Pearl Harbor was attacked."

Wilson believes there has been a renewed focus on veterans in the last few years, perhaps caused by the U.S. involvement in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Hyre says America focuses on its war veterans periodically.

"When we were kids, we had people who served during World War I come into our classes to talk about their experiences," he said. "Some of our grandparents were in the Civil War."

Although Henry, Wilson and Russell attended Harding together and each were in the U.S. Navy, the men did not serve in the military together.

Hyre hopes that more area WWII vets sign up for an Honor Flight.

For more information about Honor Flight Cleveland, visit: www.honorflightcleveland.com.

rsmith@tribtoday.com