Butler Memorial Day Parade offers reminder of lives lost in Butler County, showcases veteran families
Like many long-distance couples who wanted to keep in touch before the advent of email, Sally and Leslie Passarelli, who met at Knoch High School, were dedicated to letter writing. This was no regular “snail mail.” Letters — in the early days of their relationship — took upward of six weeks to arrive. This was the reality of dating during the Vietnam War.
“We wrote letters every day,” Sally Passarelli said. “And it’s always on your mind about them being hurt or killed.”
Passarelli watched the Memorial Day parade in Butler on Monday, May 29, with her husband. They married right after the war ended, she said. A red poppy, symbolizing remembrance, was pinned to her blouse.
“I’m sure it was even harder for the wives and children,” she said.
The story of Sally and Leslie Passarelli was one of many represented Monday by the crowds of Butler residents and spouses, children and grandchildren of military personnel who lined both sides of Main Street to greet parade goers.
Butler resident Jerry Smathers came out to support his granddaughter who would soon be walking down Main Street with Butler Senior High School’s Golden Tornado Marching Band. His son, an Army veteran, sat beside him.
“It’s honestly kind of unreal, because all these people that are local - some of them know you, some of them don’t — are cheering you on. It brings everyone together. The music and everything we do together, it’s just a really great energy that you get from being part of it,” said band member and senior high school student Luke Benkart.
Students from Butler Senior High School began practicing for the parade right after Christmas break. Rehearsals became more intensive last month, Luke said.
During the course of the parade, veterans marched in uniform. Others watched on with their families. The turnout of the annual event showcases a storied community forged by its industrial past and military enlistment over the past several decades. Like other industrial regions, statistics from the Census Bureau indicate that Butler County has the one of the highest veteran populations in Pennsylvania.
The parade ended in Diamond Park, where American Legion members and former Navy servicemen LeRoy Bunyan and Bill Wilson addressed the crowd.
The ceremony offered a reminder of the casualties that continue to impact families and communities around Butler County.
“This is not about those who served in the military. That day is Nov. 11. That’s called Veterans Day. This day is Memorial Day,” Bunyan said.
“This is about those mothers never seeing their sons or daughters again, whose dads wept in private, whose wives had to raise their kids because their husbands did not come home, and whose kids only remember their parents from a picture.”
“We are mindful that the sweetness and enduring peace has always been attained by the bitterness of personal sacrifice,” Wilson said.
Post 117 Legion Riders explained the meaning of a small table, set for one, behind a memorial. The chair, markedly empty, symbolized the prisoners of war and soldiers missing in action who would never return home or take a seat at the table.
“These veterans, they charge into every battle knowing it could be their last,” Veteran of the Year and former marine Dave Smith said.
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