YOUNGSTOWN — For Paul Melone, Veterans Day is about honoring the men and women who served and

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.