A big, grateful smile spread across Pearl Harbor survivor Ralph Laedtke’s face as people took turns shaking his hand and thanking him for his service during Vancouver’s Veterans Parade on Saturday.
The Washougal 96-year-old said it touched him to be remembered for a time in his life when he was doing what he had to do.
“I’ve been recognized more today than ever before, so I feel blessed,” he said.
Laedkte, who retired as a U.S. Navy captain after nearly 35 years of service, worked aboard a hospital ship at the time of the attack. He was 21 years old.
“I never dreamed it would end the way it did. We were caught flat-footed that day,” he said. “I’ll never forget that day and how proud I was of our Navy.”
Laedkte was just one of many veterans honored Saturday at the 30th annual Lough Legacy Veterans Parade at Fort Vancouver. About 100 people gathered in front of the Marshall House for a morning ceremony before the parade.
The keynote speaker, retired U.S. Navy Captain Greg Wooldridge thanked veterans, active-duty service members, guardsmen and reservists for their sacrifices and the sacrifices of their families.
“As they say, ‘All gave some, some gave all.’ This is a truth we veterans know above all others as it reminds us for a lifetime. By being here today and taking time to reflect on the service and sacrifice of veterans, you demonstrate that this is much more than a catchy phrase,” Wooldridge said. “It illustrates that you understand whether through your service or through the service of others the truth veterans know all too well: No one leaves the military unchanged.”
He said that for some veterans, there are physical injuries that have drastically changed their lives. But for others, their wounds are invisible.
“The pain is very real. It isn’t an easy journey for our brave men and women as they work to overcome the challenges they face as a result of their service to us,” Wooldridge said. “But our veterans have never sought an easy path out. Service before self. I like to call it finding a purpose larger than self. That’s what you experience in the military.”
Shealyn King, 19, of Kalama knows all too well the feeling of sacrifice. She lost her father, Army Spc. Eric King, in 2006 when a roadside bomb blew up his Humvee in Baghdad.
On Saturday, King and her family marched, unflinching in the rain, with the Gold Star families, a group no one wants to be a member of.
“It means so much when people come out here to see the people who (fought) for their freedom,” said King who, with her sister, held a photo of their father.
Another marcher with Gold Star families, Timothy Morris, said he, too, has been grateful for the community’s support.
Morris, his parents and his three sons held a banner for his cousin, U.S. Army Sgt. Bryce D. Howard, who was killed in 2007 by a suicide bomber while serving in Afghanistan. He was 24 years old.
“Honestly, the first year was the most emotional experience in my life because of the people who come out to see us,” said Morris, 38, of Vancouver. “To be saluted or honored by veterans or to see someone crying on the person next to them and to see the kids waving the flags, it was quite the experience — a mixture of emotion I had never experienced before in one place at one time.”
Battle Ground resident SuEllen Johnson, 33, attended the parade for the first time with three of her children: 7-year-old Penelope and 4-year-old twins Morey and Marilla. The children lined up along the parade route waving their flags, gleefully watching the procession.
For Johnson, she said that as she stood watching, wet and cold, she thought about how much more our veterans have endured to ensure our freedom.
“We can’t forget them,” she said.
