Honoring our veterans
Main Street sidewalks filled with spectators Monday for 2019's Veterans Day parade.
The parade is an annual display of pride and affection for U.S. armed forces. It's put on by a diverse group of organizations spanning several generations, and the crowds often are thick with veterans, their families and Butler County residents.
John Cyprian, director of Butler County Veterans Services, emceed the event from a platform at Diamond Park. The parade marched south down Main Street, culminating on the Diamond.
“Butler just floods it every year,” Cyprian said. “The crowds are always here.”
The parade began around 10:40 a.m. Law enforcement vehicles rolled down to mark the start, then flag bearers marched the street. After the flags, the Bantam Marine Corps drove Butler's claim to military history fame — the Bantam Jeep — through the scene.
At 11 a.m., all the motorcycles, cars and Army vehicles stopped their engines. The marchers quit marching, and the spectators drew quiet. The parade held a moment of silence in honor of the 101st anniversary of Armistice Day, the original day behind Veterans Day celebrations.The Bantam Marine Corps League held a formal firing ceremony and played taps in Diamond Park and then the parade resumed.The crowd of current and former soldiers participating in the parade was joined by several marching bands and several youth organizations. Watching from the sidewalks were several more groups of young and old, in many cases veterans and their children or grandchildren.
Tom Cornetti of Summit Township, an Army veteran who said he served from 1965 to 1967, noted the generational component is among the reasons he comes every year.“I think it's super,” Cornetti said. “You get to see all these old-time folks, and it shows the diversity they have today.”Jack Buckler, a Vietnam War artilleryman, said it's important to him that his grandson, Parker Knobeloch, is always present.“We bring him every year,” Buckler said. “We think it's important for our younger generations to develop an appreciation of what our country has gone through. Hopefully, he won't have to do what the older generations went through to protect their freedoms.”Parker, 7, stood with a foam finger, a flag and a smile.“I like it,” Parker said. “My grandfather is a veteran.”Music from most of the county's high school marching bands carried through the morning air during the parade.Alex Collins, a 14-year-old ninth-grader at Butler Intermediate High School, said this was his first year playing in the Golden
Tornado marching band and his first year performing in the parade.“We get told a lot that it's not about us when we're playing, it's about the vets,” Alex said.Madison Herdlein, a 16-year-old 11th-grader in the same band, said this year was as good as past parades. They play to thank veterans, she said.Madison's mother, Tina Herdlein, said she liked seeing her daughter find a role in the celebration.“I like seeing the support all the different groups give to this community,” Herdlein said, “from adults all the way down to Cub Scouts.”To Cyprian, getting children out to the parade is among its most positive attributes. Memorial Day is a more somber day, but Veterans Day is cause for celebration.“Some of our clients bring in their kids, and the kids always talk about marching in vets parades,” Cyprian said. “It'll stick with these young ones.”
