Marine Corps veterans pack Saxon Club for reunion

August 16, 2015 at 12:04a.m.

By SARAH LEHR

AUSTINTOWN

Father and son Richard and Rick Baldwin, both veterans, went to the first reunion of the Marine Corps League Tri-State Detachment 394 in Struthers 35 years ago.

Saturday, they returned for the 36th annual reunion at the Saxon Club in Austintown.

Rick Baldwin, a Youngstown police officer, spent six years with the Marine Corps. He also served in the National Guard 24 years and was deployed to Vietnam, Kuwait and Iraq. His 84-year old father, Richard, is a veteran of the Korean War, in which he earned a Purple Heart.

Rick Baldwin said he and his father look forward to reunions as a chance to swap stories and reconnect with other veterans. “It’s nice seeing the same people every year,” he said.

Saturday’s reunion featured dinner, music and dancing. Tickets were $25 each.

Col. John A. Bolt headlined as the event’s main speaker. Bolt, a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and the Marine Corps Command and Staff College, has logged more than 2,800 flight hours. He holds a Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, a Meritorious Service Medal, an Air Medal and two Bronze Stars.

“There’s so much history in this room,” Bolt said at the reunion. “I love hearing the stories. It’s important to pass on the legacies from generation to generation. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”