Honoring the fallen: Canton pays tribute on Memorial Day
CANTON – Memorial Day has always been a balancing act between honoring those who died in military service for their country, and fun on the holiday that's become the unfofficial start of summer.
Turns out, there's room for both.
The city's annual parade, followed by a ceremony, returned on Monday — after a two-year pandemic-induced hiatus. Organized by the Greater Canton Veterans Council, it was one of many similar events held in communities across Stark County, from Wilmot to Marlboro Township.
Canton's parade stepped off from the McKinley High Downtown Campus at 10 a.m. The meaning of the day was more personal for men like Lee Goddard, one of six members of the Vietnam Veterans of America seated on park benches on a trailer, among the 40 units in the parade.
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"We're the ones who made it home," said Goddard, a Navy veteran, who served aboard the USS Charles P. Cecil.
So many service members didn't.
Goddard and his fellow Vietnam vets were joined on the 1.3-mile parade route by the McKinley High band, American Legion Post 44 motorcycle riders, Corvettes and a host of other veterans groups members. They waved, saluted, tossed candy and gum, and soaked in adulation from the crowd.
"Thank you," men and women shouted to them.
'I never miss one of these.'
The journey west on Tuscarawas Street W, then north on Elgin Avenue to the route's end at the McKinley Monument was mostly festive.
Children scrambled for free sweets in front of the Towne Manor Motel. Throngs who found a shady spot in front of Liberty Ford waved flags back and forth. Andy Tomic had the best view of all.
His 27-foot Sunstar RV was perched on top of a grassy hill, east of the Canton Inn.
"I never miss one of these," said Tomic, seated in a lawn chair alongside his girlfriend, Toni Alesgri, and another friend, Cathy Oyer.
Tomic rattled off the names of family members who'd served in the military. Coming to the parade to pay his respects is the least he could do. Tomic, himself, didn't serve in the military.
"Probably my biggest regret; I wish I had," he said.
Memorial Day has been a national holiday since 1971, but its history dates to the Civil War when it was Decoration Day.
By 10:45 a.m., the last unit arrived in the parking lot near the base of the McKinley Monument steps. The boisterous celebration that was the parade, began to quiet. William Theiss, of the Military Officers Association of America, Ohio Western Reserve Chapter, stepped to a podium microphone.
He introduced several speakers, including Canton Mayor Tom Bernabei, a Vietnam veteran.
The mayor said the day is "a special tribute to our fallen heroes ... to memorialize those who gave their lives in defense of our country," noting 1.1 million Americans have died in service dating to the Revolutionary War.
Bernabei cited a verse from the Bible, John 15:13: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."
'We honor the fallen by caring for our brethren.'
Bryan Bowman, who founded the SAM (Serving Area Military) Center in Massillon in 2015, was next. The group, he said, has provided food and financial assistance to 10,000 families on its mission to help service members, widows and veterans.
"We honor the fallen by caring for our brethren," he said.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Canton honors those who died with Memorial Day tribute
