Honoring service

Ceremony applauds, supports WWII vets

A tiny strip mall in Lighthouse Point was a sea of patriotic colors as residents from as far as Pembroke Pines and Tamarac celebrated the lives and service of six World War II veterans. On this Veteran’s Day, however, theirs was a larger purpose.

Inside awaited a $150 lunch for 200 people that, with the cocktail hour outside, and donations from Papa’s Raw Bar, would raise more than $23,000 — enough to provide 78 World War II veterans next spring with an Honor Flight, the program that takes local veterans to the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C.

It was a trip experienced by Harvey Mittleman.

“I’d been to Washington a number of times [before] but never hit the monument,” said the Tamarac resident of the day-long trip two years ago. “To see it was mind-boggling.”

Mittleman now is one of the volunteers that sustain Honor Flight South Florida. Jessica Easterling, who cochaired the fundraiser with Ryan Paton, said they solicit free transportation for veterans, organize chaperones willing to buy their own plane ticket and choreograph a one-day trip for the veteran that ends in a celebratory welcome home.

During the ceremony in Lighthouse House, Mittleman was in the crowd awaiting the arrival of six veterans aged 92 to 96. Among them, the six had helped liberate Italy, France, Germany, Belgium and fight Japan, and their service was remembered individually.

A glossy black van pulled into the parking lot in front of Papa’s Raw Bar, amid celebrants in red, white, and blue. Music blared and Steve Shapiro of Plantation circled the area with a poster: “You’ve seen the movies. Now get ready to meet the stars.”

And stars they were: As the door to the van opened, statuesque Miami Dolphins cheerleaders in white go-go boots and skirts stepped forward to greet the disembarking veteran and envelope them in giant pompoms.

“He fought in Belgium. He was an army paratrooper … Mr. Sid Levin,” said DJ Franco Soriano of Awesome Entertainment, introducing another veteran.

Inside the restaurant, the veterans lined up on bar stools against one wall. One wore his war medals pinned to his T-shirt; others wore caps from military reunions. All wore self-conscious smiles, perhaps sharing Mittleman’s sentiment about the Honor Flight program.

“I didn’t have anybody down here [in Florida],” Mittleman said. “But now I have a family.”