Remembering The Soldiers

Vets honored with parade, memorial

Sunday, November 07, 2004

Groups of friends and strangers gathered along Fountain Square Park as the veterans parade made its way past them Saturday.

Veterans from the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars, as well as the Kentucky National Guard and the Military Order of the Purple Heart, traveled down the parade route to the cheers and waves of the crowd gathered in the sunshine.

Bowling Green veterans Arthur Keith, 82, and Jim Hammond, 85, who served in World War II, and Harold Loafman, 67, who saw the war in Vietnam firsthand, discussed their service as they waited for the parade to begin.

Hammond said he was in combat 195 days straight as a forward fire observer for the artillery. He talked about how lucky he was not to have been among the 13,447 other men in his unit who fell in action.

Victory in Europe sent him to California to prepare for fighting in the Pacific, which he ended up not having to do because the war ended.

Now his unit, the 104th Infantry, has regular reunions, he said.

Keith served with the 24th Evacuation Hospital from Normandy to the Rhine. He said his unit had reunions as well, until there were just too few of them left to keep meeting.

Loafman said he served of two tours of duty in Vietnam

With all they had seen, the three men voiced support for the troops in Iraq.

I say go with it, Loafman said.

But they werent unequivocally satisfied with the way the wars been handled.

If theyd had more troops there from the start, it would be over with by now, Keith said.

High school JROTC cadets from area schools marched past in ordered ranks and marching bands played. Veterans in cars, busses and on motorcycles paraded by.

Retired Army Colonel Danny Young, a Vietnam War veteran, brought Aubry Proctor, a WWII veteran, to the parade and then showed him the statue beside Warren County Courthouse that was to be dedicated to veterans.

Some of these Second World War vets are not noticed like they should be, Young said. They dont talk much about what they did and what they saw.

Proctors service from 1942 to 1945 took him across Europe in support of the Army Air Corps, and Young served in a combat assault unit in Vietnam giving him some insight into the Iraq situation.

Insurgency warfare is very different, there are no lines of defense, he said. The same men he would work with during the day would put on their black pajamas and attack us that night.

Young said the Iraqi National Guard Troops need to take over the cleanup of their country and restoration of their government.

Those individuals have got to take responsibility for their own country, he said.

The parade of veterans continued and Young indicated his pride in the Warren Central cadets he helps train. About half of the cadets in the program were in the parade.

Veterans memorial dedication

Governor Ernie Fletcher visited Bowling Green after the Veterans Day parade to help in dedicating the military statues and memorial garden at the courthouse.

America thanks you, Fletcher said to veterans, and Kentucky thanks you.

He said that glory and conquest are not in the hearts of the servicemen who go to war their desire to protect freedom and democracy is what drives their service.

Fletcher said he asks soldiers returning from the present conflicts if they would go back if they were called and he said they always reply with a yes.

The reason America is the land of the free is we truly are the home of the brave, Fletcher said.

State Sen. Brett Guthrie, R-Bowling Green, joined Buchanon in recognizing Lt. Robert Henderson, one of the local soldiers killed recently during the war in Iraq. Henderson died before his wife, Lisa, gave birth to their child.

Dedication of the statues was made by Commanders Roger Miller of the 23rd American Legion Post and Don Mudd of VFW Post 1298.

Friendship Christian Church was awarded Best Float and Warren County Combined Band was named Best Band.

The governor arrived a little late to the festivities, blaming a previous engagement in Louisville. He said he was flown down to this Veterans Day event in a National Guard Blackhawk helicopter.

Weve got a great group of National Guardsmen and -women that serve the commonwealth, Fletcher said. Over 600 men and women deployed across the world are a reflection on Kentuckians strong tradition of serving their country.  Daily News ·813 College St. ·PO Box 90012 ·Bowling Green, KY ·42102 ·270-781-1700