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Old vets are fading away from parades
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David Becker/Las Vegas Review-Journal
During a 2008 interview, Pearl Harbor survivor Clifton Dohrmann holds up a photograph that shows the destruction at Kanoehe Naval Air Station where he was stationed during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. Dohrmann, president of Pear Harbor Survivors Association Silver State Chapter No. 2 said this year's Veterans Day parade on Friday will be the last for group. » Buy this photo
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LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Friday's Veterans Day parade in Las Vegas will be the last for a handful of Pearl Harbor survivors from the local Silver State chapter, who say they're getting too old for parades.
"We are down to four members, all with health problems. We are all in the high 80s and 90s and don't plan on any more parades after this," wrote Clifton E. Dohrmann, president of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association Silver State Chapter No. 2, not counting himself.
In a letter to the Review-Journal announcing the group's dwindling numbers, Dohrmann, 89, said the survivors' national office will close in December, 70 years after Japanese warplanes swooped down on Dec. 7, 1941, and bombed U.S. ships and military installations on Oahu in the Hawaiian Islands.
Besides Dohrmann, a retired chief petty officer aviation mechanics mate who manned a .50-caliber machine gun at Kaneohe Bay Naval Air Station during the attack, the other active members of Chapter No. 2 are Joseph Honish, William Simshauser, Harold LaLone and Ira "Ike" Schab.
"We're all getting to the age now where participating in these events is a trying thing," said Schab, 91, a retired Navy petty officer first class. He was a musician in the admiral's band who was on board a destroyer tender and loaded ammunition during the attack.
Schab said he's "long since lost count" of how many parades he has been in -- at least 64, one a year since he got out of the service in 1947, "and many times two or three a year."
"I'm partially regretful and partially glad it's going to be over with," he said.
Pearl Harbor survivors who are not active in the chapter but live in the Las Vegas Valley include Richard Hackett, Walter Schildt, Ed Hall and Jack Leaming.
Leaming, 92, a retired Naval Air Corps aerial radioman and machine-gunner, responded to the attack with pilot Dale Hilton in a Douglas scout aircraft from the USS Enterprise.
Three months later, their dive bomber was shot down. They were captured by Japanese troops off Marcus Island and held in prisoner of war camps until they were liberated more than three years later.
Hall, 88, was an Army Air Corps private who drove the wounded to hospitals during the attack and helped recover dead personnel.
Asked about his parade plans, Hall said he won't be among the 134 entries in this year's parade.
"We're all getting old, and there's not many of us to participate," he said. "I think it's OK."
Like past years, this year's Veterans Day parade is expected to draw more than 40,000 spectators, making it one of the largest Veterans Day parades in the nation, said Bill Stojack, chairman of the parade committee.
The parade has attracted entries from California and Arizona, Stojack said.
The parade is sponsored by Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1753, the city of Las Vegas and Clark County, with help from the American Legion and several veterans organizations and support groups.
It will kick off at 10 a.m. at Hoover Avenue and run along Fourth Street in the downtown area, north to Ogden Avenue.
Portions of the parade route at the viewing stand near Ogden Avenue and Fourth Street will close at 6 a.m. Friday. Other downtown streets will be closed from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday along the route.
Stojack said the Pearl Harbor survivors will be near the front of the parade.
Wounded troops from the Warrior Transition Program at Fort Irwin, Calif., will collectively serve as grand marshal behind the color guard.
Pat Boone, iconic pop singer and entertainer of the late-1950s and '60s, will lead off the parade by singing "The Star-Spangled Banner."
Then, in keeping with the Armistice Day roots of Veterans Day, at 11:11 a.m. on the 11th day of the 11th month, a B-1B Lancer bomber will fly over the parade route, Stojack said.
In November 1919, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed Nov. 11 as the first commemoration of what was called Armistice Day, primarily to honor World War I veterans on the anniversary of the armistice that ended the war in 1918 at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.
An act of Congress on May 13, 1938, made Nov. 11 a legal holiday dedicated to world peace.
In 1954, after the Korean War, veterans service organizations persuaded Congress to amend the 1938 act by striking the word "Armistice" and inserting "Veterans" in its place to honor U.S. veterans of all wars.
For more information about the parade, call (702) 218-4321 or (702) 384-4161, or send an email to vfwpost1753@gmail.com.
Contact reporter Keith Rogers at krogers@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0308.
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THEY WOULDN'T SHOW UP UNLESS THEY WERE PAID?
Who are these so called "stars"? Do they not know that the "Stars" are the VETS WHO SERVED??
What fools.
Parade Committee: There are hundreds of thousands of vets, boomers, retirees, families of vets etc. liviing in Las Vegas alone.
We would love if you would cough up names of those who wanted to "Profit from their Photo OP Patriotism". I'm sure their are many who would like to hit them where it hurts...the wallet.
I for one don't want to spend ONE RED CENT on these fakes or their shows. This would make a much more interesting article in the journal.
My father as a medic in WWII dragged the bloodied, wounded and dead from the front line...My son has left his wife and children for three tours and is leaving again. THESE OUR SURVIVING VETS AND THOSE WHO SERVE NOW DESERVE HONOR.
...Honor? From Vegas entertainment establishment? ... Please. Go back to your investment of time in getting young people to drink and party, throw up on the streets, show up at the latest Kardashian or Snooki party, lose themselves in excessive hedonism, remain perpetual adolescents "arrested" in their developmet and unable to commit or contribute to society. Hono It's so much easier to contribute to the worst in man, and so much easier to check out.
At a minimum they might remember on Veterans Day that the vets bought America's Freedom for people to make idiots out of themselves. But then again...that's what the strip banks on.
Why didn't Wayne Newton take 1-2 hrs of time or is he afraid of losing money he will be making from his tour of his ranch to come down and honor the Vets. His father was a Navy Vet., these stars forget how many men and women have lost their lives for freedom.
I usually have smart aleck comments that I post in here and argue with others, but today I want to thank all the Vets who have served putting their lives on the line for freedom. I want to thank all the Vets who gave up thier lives for freedom. God Bless You All and Thank You....
bonexsher , of all the big "stars " ,big name entertainers that come to Vegas none that we (the Parade Committee ) have been able to contact were even willing to show up for anything less than 5,000 dollars for just an appearance.
Kinda shows where they are coming from, and their value's.
Pat found out about the Parade, and ,at no charge and was honored to be here for the Vets.
Next time you go and see one of our "Vegas Stars", you might keep that in mind.
They make all kinds of noise about being "Patriotic, All for the Troops", etc. But it stops at their wallet.
If you have a connect in the industry, feel free to put a willing "Star" in touch with the Parade organizers for next years Parade.
We do owe a great deal to the WW2 vets. But by the same token, we have forgotten about the Korean War vets. And when it comes to the Vietnam vets, there is the old saying." Soldiers and dogs, stay off the grass." Then there are the Iraqi and
Afghan vets. People fall all over themselves trying to thank them, without even knowing WHERE they served, or what they did. I do not attend Veterans Day celebrations or parades or any of that stuff. Being a Vietnam veteran myself, I know what my countrymen think of my service.
This country was blessed to have had the loyal, dedicated and patriotic veterans that we have had in the past. Those who sacrified so much for the rest of us are indebted to them forever. There are those who decry teh efforts of our current military to provide us with security and the freedom we continue to have. Revisionist, patronizing, appologists and politically correct advocaates would have our school children believe that the United States of America is a war mongering nation. We must stand vigilant against the shameful anarchists who, like Jane Fonda of the Viet Nam era, tried to forment treason from within our country. God Bless our troops past and present.
Friday is Veterans Day which is a day worthy of observation. Unfortunately, in Las Vegas a Veteran's day Parade is held on an obscure, out of the way street and not on a main byway of the city. The thinking of the powers that be feel it was important enough to close down a main road to show off Indy Cars for the recent disasterous race event. They, however, are not compelled enough to close the same road for a full blown VETERANS DAY PARADE. Any small berg or village in America hold their parades for whatever purpose on their main street, but in Las Vegas, the once famous icon landmark Fremont Street is not available for such parades but has become a vendors venue. LAS VEGAS continues to decline as a classy city because of such narrow minded thinking.Shame on our city fathers.
Have to wonder how you survive a Japanese POW camp. Or make it to 92 for that matter. God Bless.
all the celebrities that come to vegas and the only one available is pat boone??
Thank you for your service. You shouldn't feel obligated to attend an event being held in your honor if your health doesn't allow for it. I'm glad you were able to live a long healthy life and we won't forget you.