Parma Honors World War II Veterans With Ceremony

City Council was packed at meeting to honor World War II veterans

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On Monday, September 19, the City of Parma provided an unforgettable evening for nearly 40 World War II veterans, their families and friends and many who made it a point to come and say to those veterans: “Thank you for your service.”

Mayor Tim DeGeeter declared the veterans, all residents of Parma, as Parma Citizens of the Month. Each veteran was recognized individually by name and branch of service, and the mayor gave each a proclamation from his office, a resolution from City Council and certificates of appreciation from Treasurer Tom Mastroianni, Auditor Brian Day and Law Director Tim Dobeck. The veterans were each given a small desk flag made by Parma resident and former Citizen of the Month John Metzger.

The idea originally came from another former Citizen of the Month. Ken Elhert suggested at a council meeting that it would be a great idea to honor a World War II veteran as Citizen of the Month.  Mayor DeGeeter went him one better and suggested that an effort be made to locate as many of Parma’s remaining WWII veterans as possible. That effort lasted about 10 weeks, and a database of more than 60 veterans was originally identified. Letters were sent to those veterans, and 45 responded. Thirty-seven of those came to the ceremony at City Hall, and the other eight were unable to attend.

Those unable to come to the event were sent certificates in the mail.

“This was a great idea, so thanks to Ken Elhert for that,” Mayor DeGeeter said. “What happened after that was beyond all our expectations. To be able to personally say thank you to these veterans was an honor. I was very humbled by the experience.”

The mayor expressed his thanks to Parma’s American Legion branches, the VFW and to the Honor Flight Cleveland organization for their help in locating the veterans. Joe Benedict, the president of Honor Flight Cleveland, called out the names of the veterans at the event.

Parma Auxiliary Police member Matt Chandler, on hand to help with the event, said “These veterans deserve everything they can get in the way of respect. I served in the Army and people say to me, ‘Thank you for your service.’ I appreciate that, but I tell them to tell their parents or grandparents if they served. Sometimes people are more comfortable saying that to a stranger than to someone in their own family. These World War II veterans, they won’t be here much longer, and it’s nice to see them honored and respected here tonight.”