World War II veterans honored during downtown parade (+video)

As Ben Love chatted with a fellow onlooker before the start of Saturday’s Veterans Day parade in Wichita, a passing woman decades his junior stopped to shake his hand.

“Thank you for your service,” said the woman, apparently noticing the World War II baseball cap Love was wearing.

The brief exchange seemed the perfect microcosm for this year’s event, officially dubbed the Spirit AeroSystems Veterans Day Parade, which wove through downtown Wichita on a warm, sunny autumn morning before ending with a gathering in front of WaterWalk Place.

Love, 88, said he appreciated the stranger’s words.

“I do get that at times if I’m wearing my hat,” Love said. “It’s nice that people recognize what the veterans of World War II did. It’s also nice that veterans from the last few wars get recognized, too, because they haven’t always had that.”

One of the themes of the parade on Saturday centered around commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Allied victory in 1945. While no official estimate was available, attendance at the event appeared to be in the thousands.

Though he didn’t see combat action during the war, Love said he takes great pride in knowing that he served in the Navy during some of the most tumultuous years in U.S. history. According to estimates provided by the National WWII Museum in New Orleans, close to 500 U.S. World War II veterans die each day.

The museum estimates there are about 8,000 World War II veterans still alive in Kansas. Love said he knows about half a dozen.

“There’s only about 10 percent of us remaining now,” Love said. “It won’t be long before there are none left.”

Jim Sharp, the parade’s Grand Marshal and also a World War II veteran, said he was impressed by the turnout Saturday. Sharp served in the Army and fought in the Battle of the Bulge, one of the war’s bloodiest fights.

“It’s been a wonderful day,” said Sharp, a Manhattan resident, before he took to the stage to speak after the parade. “Lots of people are out here paying their respects, and the mood is generally one of happiness. I want to thank everyone who put this great event on to honor veterans, and to the city of Wichita for hosting it.”

With thousands of American service personnel killed in just the Battle of the Bulge alone, Sharp said his thoughts were also with “those who didn’t come home” from the war.

At the end of the hour-long parade, which featured about 80 route entries, interested onlookers, young and old alike, browsed through an area at the WaterWalk that featured a Bradley Fighting Vehicle, Abrams tank and several military helicopters. Soldiers from the 2nd Combined Arms Battalion, 137th Infantry, participated in the parade, as did scores of local JROTC and middle school leadership cadets.

As children grabbed candy, beauty queens waved from convertibles and current and former service men and women beamed with pride, the event appeared to go off without a hitch.

“This parade seems to get bigger every year,” said Dave LeFevre, 70, a Vietnam War veteran and member of the Thomas Hopkins Kansas American Legion Post 4 in Wichita. “When we came back from the war, we were not treated very well, so something like this makes me feel great. People remember.”

This story was originally published November 7, 2015 at 5:07 PM with the headline "World War II veterans honored during downtown parade (+video)."