The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
LEST WE FORGET
Families line streets to honor service members who sacrificed all for U.S.
Thousands gathered along Broadway Avenue in Lorain on May 28 to participate in the city’s annual Memorial Day parade. Children and adults from around the area huddled along the parade route, which ran from West 17th Street to City Hall along Broadway, to show their support for veterans and to remember those who did not return from their service to the country.
In speaking to The Morning Journal before the event, parade chairman Steve Bansek said there were about 40 entries in the parade.
“By entries I mean individual applications, I don’t mean the individual people, cars, trucks, floats, etcetera,” he clarified. “It
“We are the land of the free, because of the brave, many of whom never returned home...”
— Memorial Day Parade Chairman Steve Bansek
might not sound like a lot, but it is a lot for us.”
He said the parade’s start time, 11 a.m., was chosen because of its significance as the time of day when Pearl Harbor was attacked drawing the U.S. into World War II.
Bansek highlighted the fact the parade included all five service flags, a combined color guard at the head, two school bands and the Lorain High School JROTC.
He could not remember how long the parade has been held in the city, but he’s been chairman for about five or six years.
Matthew Grant, 32, of Lorain, was waiting in the shade near the corner of Broadway and West Erie Avenue for his first Memorial Day Parade to begin.
He said his family often holds big cookouts with about 50 people on the holiday. One person who wouldn’t be at this year’s get together is his brother, David Caputo, 29, of Lorain but currently overseas in Iraq, and has served in the military for 10 years.
“It means a lot to me (to see the community be so patriotic),” he said. “With him over there, it’s serious. He’s fighting for us to serve our country and protect us.
“It’s good to respect all the people who served, especially the injured ones and the ones that lost their lives.”
Melissa Bangas, 48, of Amherst Township, is a special education teacher at Helen Steiner Rice Elementary School. She attended the parade to support her husband and daughter who were marching as part of the Amvets Post 47 contingent.
She said her husband, Brett Bangas, 47, also of Amherst Township, just returned from a nearly yearlong deployment in Bahrain. She said it’s touching to see the community support servicemen.
“Being from Lorain
nearly all my life, it’s heartwarming,” she said. “I feel proud of the city I grew up in and happy to see people support our military.”
That support for the military, and the remembrance of those who did not return is what the parade is all about, according to Bansek.
“The banner (which was carried in the parade) speaks for itself,” he said.
“’The land of the free because of the brave,’ and we have a second banner that states, ‘Lest we forget,’ that won’t be in the parade this year.
“We are the land of the free, because of the brave, many of whom never returned home, and the veterans who returned home have constantly given back to the community and still do and very little is known about what they do.”