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For the organizers of the Chaffee Crossing Veterans Day Parade, the event is a time to honor those who served not only through festivity, but also through ceremony.
The seventh annual Chaffee Crossing Veterans Day Parade was held Saturday in the Chaffee Crossing Historic District. The parade was preceded by the presentation of medals to two military veterans and the family members of a deceased veteran.
“This is a very special and sacred part of our ceremonies for the day,” Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority marketing director Lorie Robertson said of the medal presentation.
Robertson said parade organizers this year wanted to honor veterans who served during the Cold War era, which included the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the presence of U.S. armed forces in West Germany. She also said Veterans Day this year marks the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day in World War I.
The medals were presented on Friday to U.S. Army veterans Harry McKay and John Schweer and in memory of Army veteran Carl Hearne, all of whom served in the Cold War era. They were given through officials at the office of U.S. Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., who badist in obtaining veterans’ medals that have been lost, destroyed or not received, said military and veterans affairs liaison Anita Deason of Boozman’s office.
McKay and Schweer both served in the Vietnam War while in the military. Schweer received three honors at the ceremony and McKay received 14 honors.
McKay, who also served in west Germany, Kuwait and Iraq, said he would have stayed in the military but retired as a master sergeant at 60. He also said attending an event like the one on Saturday is uncommon for him.
“So be it, service is service to country — I don’t need a parade or any of that,” he said. “I’m doing it more for my kids and my wife, because she had to manage everything when I was gone. My first Iraq tour was 15 months, and I spent two Christmases away — I owe it all to her.”
John and Ron Hearne, the sons of the late Korean War veteran Carl Hearne, received two honors on behalf of their father on Saturday. John Hearne said his father didn’t say much about his time in the Army and only learned about his service until after his death.
“We dug into his paperwork and found out there were some medals he was going to receive,” he said. “We had no idea. It was just a surprise.”
The parade, which drew over 1,200 participants, according to Robertson, followed the ceremony. Robertson touted the response to the event.
“That just shows you the heart that the people of the River Valley have for their veterans,” she said. “It shows the kind of appreciation we have.”
Robertson and others were pleased with the purpose behind the event as well.
“Anything we do to honor our veterans is a great event,” said retired Maj. Gen. Don Morrow, who presented the medals Saturday.
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