Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Bluefield, WV

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November 11, 2009

Pride on parade:

By GREG JORDAN

PRINCETON — Cold Veterans Day weather shrouded parade routes in overcast skies and rain, but they failed to keep the public in Princeton and in Welch from thanking the men and women who serve their country.

All along the Mercer Street parade route in Princeton, people huddled under umbrellas or braved the open air as high school bands, veterans of wars and other marchers marked the occasion. Many service patches were evident both in the parade and among the people watching from the sidewalks.

Vietnam War veteran John Laffrey, now 61, served in Vietnam from 1967-1968. Now a resident of Lilly Grove, he hoped that Americans not only remember the veterans among them, but the ones who lost their lives while serving their country.

“And the ones coming from Iraq and Afghanistan. We need to show them support,” he said.

During the Vietnam era, the draft and the act of volunteering for military service drew many young men from Mercer County and the surrounding area, Laffrey recalled.

“This whole town was cleaned out. Princeton really supported the war, and Bluefield, too,” he said. “I came home in August ‘68 and there were still a whole lot of my friends over there.”

Another Vietnam era veteran waiting for the parade, Thomas Sawyer, 59, of Princeton, was in the Marine Corps from 1969 to 1978. His thoughts were aimed at the Americans now serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“My son’s over there right now,” Sawyer said. Philip Sawyer is with the Army in Iraq.

Air Force veteran Howard Mitchelson, 56, of Princeton served in England during the Vietnam era. He hoped Americans would appreciate what the armed forces have preserved for the country.

“The freedom we have in our nation,” he said. “That’s the most important thing we have in this country.”

One woman waiting under an umbrella with her camera was thinking of a loved one who was about to march in the parade and another one who is far from home.

“My son is in the Young Republicans,” said 38-year-old Tina Cook of Princeton. “Also my husband (Jesse Cook) is a veteran and he is currently serving in Iraq.”

Cook said she wanted people to think “about the sacrifices that have been made and those to be made. They should always thank a soldier for their freedom, because it’s definitely not free.”

Grand Marshals for this year’s Princeton Veterans Day Parade were Ernestine Thornton, RN, Cpt. U.S. Army and Dr. Daniel Holovic.

McDowell County crowds also braved the weather to watch the 90th Veterans Day Parade in Welch. Numerous units ranging from the West Virginia National Guard, civic organizations, churches, local officials and even Santa Claus marched through the city.

Since 1919, dignitaries from across the spectrum of civilian and military leadership have been the parade’s distinguished speaker. In 1920, Colonel Theodore Roosevelt, then Assistant Secretary of the Army, addressed the people of McDowell County. Later in 1941, U.S. Senator Harry S. Truman addressed the crowd; in 1957, it was President Harry S. Truman who visited McDowell County.

This year’s Distinguished Speaker was Brigadier General James H. Hoyer of the West Virginia National Guard.













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