Ceremony honors vets on their day

Prisoners of war and missing soldiers also were
honored.

By SEAN BARRON

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

YOUNGSTOWN — For Paul Melone, Veterans Day is about honoring the men and women who served and continue to serve their country.

After returning home, however, too many face difficulties of a different kind, he said.

“Some vets have hardships when taken away from their jobs when they serve, and this causes quite a hardship for their families,” noted Melone, of Struthers, an Army sergeant and mechanic stationed in Germany during the Korean War. “It’s hard to fight and worry about your wife and children.”

A law needs to be in place to ensure that those who leave their jobs to serve in the military will automatically have their positions intact upon completion of service, he added.

Melone was one of a few dozen service members who attended Sunday’s Veterans Day program, put on by the United Veterans Council in the Mahoning County Courthouse rotunda. The council represents about 30 veterans organizations in the Mahoning Valley, and the hourlong ceremony was set up to honor and recognize veterans’ service.

For Charles Stepan of Boardman, a button he wore that said “Freedom is not free,” epitomized his reasons for attending the program. Stepan, an Army sergeant who was a tactical adviser during the Korean War, pulled out a poem titled “Old Comrades” that reads in part,

“I know each rock, each clump of trees

That marks this hallowed ground.

For in my mind I see [soldiers] fall

And hear the battle sound.”

Also part of the ceremony was a remembrance for prisoners of war and those missing in action.

Ray Ornelas, senior vice commander for Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 3538, pointed to a nearby table set for one person that contained a red rose, a white tablecloth, a lemon, salt sprinkled on a plate, and an upside-down glass. The cloth and rose represented soldiers’ purity of motives to serve, and families who maintain faith for their loved ones’ return, respectively; the lemon symbolized some service members’ bitter fate; the salt was a symbol for the tears of family members who wait; and the glass was symbolic of soldiers unable to share a toast with loved ones, Ornelas explained.

The event’s keynote speaker was Navy Lt. Commander Brad Davidson, who praised the “men and women who wear the uniforms and who step forward to answer the call.” The families of those who enlist also need to be remembered, he noted.

Davidson cited a few soldiers who were awarded for their work, including one who received a Silver Star award for defending the airport in Baghdad, Iraq. Many soldiers are busy building schools and bridges, as well as restoring electricity and water in that country, he added.

The program also included a Placing and Laying of the Wreath, a salute to fallen comrades and Posting of Colors by the Tri-State Marine Corps League, and the playing of taps. Giving the invocation and Benediction was Mark Johnson, chaplain of American Legion Post No. 472. A wreath was placed next to the Man on the Monument in Central Square.