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Veteran: ‘Freedom is not free’
By SEAN BARRON
BOARDMAN
Phillip and Kim Floyd of Warren both served two years in the Army, though their military careers have little else in common.
Nevertheless, the couple is united in their belief that all soldiers and veterans deserve tremendous respect and gratitude.
“Every time people open their eyes, they should thank a veteran for the freedoms they enjoy every day,” Phillip Floyd said after Monday’s 106th annual Boardman Community Memorial Day program in Boardman Township Park. “Freedom is not free; someone had to pay for it.”
Floyd, who served from 1969 to 1971, including a tour of duty in Vietnam, said that each year he attends the township gathering, sponsored by the Boardman Kiwanis Club. For Floyd, it means in part remembering friends and fellow servicemen who are deceased, he said.
His wife, Kim, was a military police officer who served from 1987 to 1989. Part of her duties included guarding Air Force One, the plane used by the president, she noted.
Another reason she came to Sunday’s 90-minute program was to remember and honor her brother, John Guthridge, who was killed in an industrial accident in 1999 after having been in Operation Desert Storm.
More youngsters should view Memorial Day as more than just a day off work or school, the couple added.
After lining U.S. Route 224 to see a parade that began at Boardman Center Middle School on Market Street, several hundred people attended the ceremony, which featured local author and World War II Navy veteran Michael Lacivita as guest speaker.
Lacivita, who was the parade’s grand marshal, read excerpts his grandson wrote that appear in Lacivita’s book “Ragman, Ragman,” detailing pride he felt for his grandfather’s service. Lacivita also shared several stories related to his enlistment in the military at age 18, as well as experiences during World War II.
He praised President Harry S. Truman for helping to end that war. Lacivita, who writes columns for The Vindicator, said he heard the Japanese had a fleet of thousands of planes poised to attack the United States, and that he saw several hundred of the planes.
“I’m very, very proud to have served the nation. I’d do it again,” said Lacivita, who’s also a member of the Ohio Senior Citizens Hall of Fame.
After his 15-minute talk, Lacivita was given a painting by local artist Ray Simon with a quote of President Franklin D. Roosevelt that reads in part: “We must be the great arsenal of democracy. It is the strength of men and women who value their freedom more highly than they value their lives.”
Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Bill Moss placed a wreath next to a monument to remember deceased veterans. Laying another wreath to honor those on active military duty in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere was Jennifer Moore, president of Boardman High School’s National Honor Society.
Afterward, veterans of each military branch were asked to walk to a flagpole as their service song was played.
Performing musical selections was the high school wind ensemble. The school’s marching band took part in the parade.
The event concluded with members of area Cub Scout packs and Boy Scout troops shaking hands with the veterans.
Before the parade, runners took part in the 20th annual Memorial Mile race.