Vindicator file photo | Marvin-Anderson Studios

February 24, 2013 at 12:00a.m.

The Girard VFW 419 Band, directed by Donald W. Hurrelbrink and winner of 10 national championships, was picked to lead off the parade welcoming Gen. George C. Marshall to Youngstown in March 1950. This photo, taken by a St. Louis, Mo., studio during one of the band’s competitions, ran in the Feb. 28, 1950 Vindicator. Marshall, former Secretary of State and wartime Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army, was often referred to as “the greatest living American” at the time.