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Kiwanis Club of Boardman to have 111th Memorial Day parade and service Monday
BOARDMAN
Memorial Day is about remembering those who died serving our country in the armed forces.
It’s also about honoring those who served who are still with us today, however, says Mark Luke, an organizer of the Kiwanis Club of Boardman’s 111th parade and service.
“We have to take advantage of these people and talk to them and recognize them before they’re gone,” said Luke. “It’s just as important to celebrate people who are here now.”
Monday’s event will honor one such person: World War II veteran Paul Rossi of Boardman will be the grand marshal of the parade and a featured speaker.
Rossi, 91, recalls graduating from high school in Girard in June 1943 and joining the Army in July.
Rossi arrived on the beaches of Normandy two days after D-Day, the June 6, 1944, Allied invasion of France.
“I was 19 years old. I landed in the water from England,” he said. “Then from there we started marching through France and all the way through France.”
He remembers traveling across France for a year, to Czechoslovakia, which is where he was when the war in Europe ended.
“I didn’t get back to Girard until August, and it ended in May,” he said. “Then from there we were going to the Pacific. They dropped the two bombs while I was home, and then the war ended.”
After the war, he attended Westminster College and then taught music at Canfield schools for 34 years.
Today, it’s difficult for him to think back to that time.
“Some of my friends who I lost who were killed in combat, I still remember. I try not to forget them,” he said. “It’s a memory that’s hard to even think about.”
Rossi said it’s an honor to be featured in the parade this year.
“There were a lot of guys, like myself, we did it for the country,” he said. “These things bring up a lot of memories.”
The parade begins at 10 a.m., starting from Center Middle School and proceeding down Market Street and then U.S. Route 224, ending at Boardman Park.
A service will take place at the park’s outdoor amphitheater beginning about 11 a.m. The service will take place in the middle school’s auditorium in the case of inclement weather.
Luke said the Kiwanis Club encourages residents to attend the service as well as the parade.
“We go along the parade route and we see thousands of people, then we only see a few hundred at the ceremony,” he said. “It’s very meaningful; it’s a nice ceremony.”
During one part of the ceremony, there is a wreath dedication for a fallen soldier and for a soldier who currently is serving.
“It’s important for people to take time out to recognize and be thankful for the people who served in the military in this country, and who gave their lives for freedom,” he said.