By JAN McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Bowling Green honored its veterans Monday on the grounds of the county courthouse and in the performing arts center at the high school.
There were many similarities – veterans saluting flags, singing of the National Anthem, playing of Taps. Hats were removed out of respect, decorum was observed.
But the audiences and the voices conveying messages at the two programs were distinctly different.
Out in the chilled wind at the Wood County Veterans Memorial Plaza, those gathered were primarily of an older generation. Many were there to pay respect to those who served alongside them.
The speaker was Lt. Col. Ken Ladik, who began his military career in 1978 as an aircraft mechanic with the 180th Fighter Wing. He worked his way up to the 180th squadron chemical warfare defense officer, support flight commander, and aircraft maintenance squadron commander.
Ladik was deployed throughout the world, including to Iraq, Afghanistan and Panama. He retired in 2006 after 28 years serving his country.
In the school performing arts center, the seats were filled with middle school students – on their best behavior. The rows up front were reserved for approximately 80 veterans personally invited by the students.
As the veterans paraded into the auditorium – some aided by walkers, canes and wheelchairs – the students rose and applauded their entrance. The veterans served in wars in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, and in peacetime.
The voices honoring the veterans in the auditorium were young, but poised. They told the history of Veterans Day, which was originally declared Armistice Day, when major hostilities of World War I formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918.
The day has become a celebration to honor America’s veterans for their patriotism, love of country, and willingness to serve and sacrifice for the common good.
“They have never let us down,” student Hannah Failor said of U.S. veterans. “We cannot measure the value of the freedom secured by their sacrifice.”
Students bravely came to the podium to read their own poem and essay written for veterans. And the middle school choir, band and orchestra performed patriotic music, including Taps played by Matt Reyome.
Emilio Llanas talked about the haunting 24 notes of Taps, which for more than 150 years has been the final call at veterans’ funerals, and the sign that the day was done at military installations around the world.
Both the program outside the courthouse and inside the performing arts center focused on the people who committed years of their lives to serving their country.
Ladik began his speech citing a statistic that the U.S. currently has about 19 million veterans – just 6% of the population.
“We know enough about Veterans Day – I want to talk about the veterans,” Ladik said.
The military is made up of all types of people, rich and poor, educated and uneducated, he said. But somehow that diversity works.
“We all come together as a cohesive team,” Ladik said.
Ladik looked to the audience and spotted Scott Sherer, the senior noncommissioned officer under Ladik at the 180th Fighter Wing. He recalled that when Sherer said he was retiring, Ladik told Sherer he needed him to stay on another year.
Sherer stayed, and retired the next year as a chief master sergeant.
Those are the kind of people who enlist, Ladik said.
“They step up. They go out of their way to do the right thing.”
Ladik recalled another young man, who never stopped smiling even when on latrine duty. He later found out the soldier was from a backwards area of Kentucky, where there was no indoor plumbing or electricity. To him, military accommodations were a luxury.
And there was the new soldier with scars all over his body. When asked about the source, the young man told Ladik he had been in a gang in Cincinnati – and the service was his way out.
“That was another kid who came from nothing,” Ladik said.
When a jet broke down, the maintenance crew members would argue about who would stay over to fix it. They all wanted to be part of the team finding the solution.
“These are the men and women I worked with,” he said. “You don’t get anywhere till you work for it.”
Ladik also pointed out the “firsts” accomplished by veterans – first U.S. president, first to break the sound barrier, first American in space, and first to step on the moon.
“It’s a privilege for me to be a veteran,” Ladik said.
In the school auditorium, the veterans attending all have some role in a student’s life – a family member, a neighbor, a role model.
Lucille Robinson, retired Air Force veteran, was invited by her grandson, Keyjuan Spencer, a seventh grader, who played viola in the orchestra during the program.
“He actually asked me to come,” Robinson said, suspecting it might be because she makes breakfast for him every morning.
But Spencer corrected his grandma and said he is proud of her service.
“She served for the country,” he said.
Ron Dunbar attended at the request of his great-grandson, Caleb LeMaster, in the sixth grade. Earlier in the day, Dunbar had attended a veterans program with another great-grandson, first grader Logan LeMaster.
An Army veteran, Dunbar served 12 months in South Korea, working with the Hawk Missile Unit, anti-aircraft equipment. He was there when John F. Kennedy was assassinated – and troops were placed on high alert.
It feels good to be recognized for their service, Dunbar said.
One familiar face at the middle school Veterans Day program was missing this year, Carney told the audience. Ed Kern, who served in the U.S. Army from 1953 to 1961, was a regular at the assemblies, along with his wife Betty, who stayed home with their six children while he served.
Carney said he learned a lot from Kern, who was willing to share his experiences. Kern died in June, “but his presence at this program will always be felt.”
Also during the program, the middle school students were praised for their recent effort to recognize veterans in the Bowling Green area. During a “penny war,” students throughout the district raised $3,179.26 to help the Bowling Green Community Foundation maintain the new veterans banners hanging on light poles throughout the city.
Community donations have supported the 164 banners honoring local veterans. The BG Community Foundation hopes to provide the opportunity for a second wave of banners early next year.
For more than 20 years, middle school history teacher Patrick Carney has organized the Veterans Day program. He is not a veteran himself, but he has the utmost respect for those who serve – including his dad, Jack Carney.
“I’m a spokesperson for all civilians to say ‘thank you,’” Carney said during a Memorial Day program in 2022.
Carney explains to his young students that throughout the centuries, American service members have fought to protect their rights.
“Our most basic rights are not guaranteed everywhere in the world,” he said on Memorial Day. “These did not come without a cost. Countless men and women have answered the call to defend them – sometimes to their dying breath.”
And civilians can do veterans the honor of “living our lives in a way that would make our fallen heroes proud,” Carney said.
“We owe it to the fallen to live our lives to the fullest,” he said.
