Vets Lead Fourth of July March

WAITSBURG - At five minutes 'til noon here this July 4, a small cadre of servicemen advanced with Old Glory and service flags to an agreed upon rendezvous point- the intersection of Main Street and Third. Once assembled, the eight men spread the width of the street-six hoisting the colors, the other two bookending the group as riflebearers.

At the sounding of the noon siren, the unit advanced in patriotic reverence two blocks toward the hardware store to the sound of the applause of a few dozen or more appreciative on- lookers.

The group consisted of John Lieberman, Dorn Hall, Bruce Abbey, Jim Harting, John Stellwagen, Jack McCaw, Rod Baker, and Bret Moser, with Ike Keve and Tom Baker bringing up the rear guard a few steps behind them.

Once in front of the hardware store, Moser, a retired Army captain, read from the Declaration of Independence and said a prayer. McCaw, an enlisted navy man during World War II, concluded the downtown proceedings by leading the crowd in a rendition of "God Bless America".

The group then headed for the park where a pot luck- barbecue awaited anyone who wished to join in.

The Independence Day parade and picnic is the brain child of Waitsburg Hardware owner John Stellwagen.

"It started about three years ago," said Stellwagen. "It started rather simply. I was going to bring the flag down the street and Jack McCaw and Tom Baker got in on it and it's just grown a little bit."

Flags of each of the five armed services have been added to the single American flag of Stellwagen's original planned march. This year Hall carried the Coast Guard flag, Abbey, the Air Force Flag, Harting bore the Army standard, Stellwagen, the Stars and Stripes, McCaw, the Navy Emblem, and Rod Baker, the flag of the Marines.

"Hopefully, the people coming out are thinking about the right things. It's nice to go out boating, or playing golf, or fishing, but for a few minutes we thought it was important to focus on the American flag and the country and the Constitution. We've done it for 20 minutes and now we go across the street (to the park) and have fun."

"This is about remembering people laying down their lives so that we could do this," said Moser, Waitsburg's Presbyterian minister, who served for 14 years in the army before entering the clergy. "It's about freedom of religion in our nation. It's all about freedom of speech and religion."

"It's important because in one generation we forget and lose everything," explained Abbey, a Vietnam era Air Force vet. "If somebody doesn't take effort to keep traditions alive as well as spark our inquiry as to what (Independence Day) is all about, our country has the potential to be in jeopardy more all the time, if we forget where we came from."

Stellwagen provided hot dogs and bottled water for the park festivities. Other revelers brought salads, chips, fruit, and desserts. Both the march and barbecue-pot luck were open to the public. About 50 people attended.