Veterans gather to remember

Published 12:00 am Saturday, May 27, 2000

Sixty years after a group of Ironton men shipped out to Camp Shelby as part of Company K, the former soldiers continue their tradition of getting together for the Memorial Day weekend.

Saturday, May 27, 2000

Sixty years after a group of Ironton men shipped out to Camp Shelby as part of Company K, the former soldiers continue their tradition of getting together for the Memorial Day weekend.

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Despite dwindling numbers, the few that are left would not miss the weekend, which is filled with reminiscing, a picnic and a parade, Ironton resident Clyde Pinson said.

"Company K’s been coming out here for 40 years to have a picnic," Pinson said. "Friday night, we now have a luncheon at Peddler’s Home Cooking. We get together there first, then we have a picnic. Then, we get together for the parade. We have our own flag, colors and battalion banner and a couple cars after that."

Pinson couldn’t imagine a Memorial Day without his fellow World War II veterans.

"We’ve been doing it so long, it’s a habit now," he said.

And it gives the former soldiers a chance to remember their fallen comrades, including the ones who couldn’t make it to this year’s reunion.

The tradition began with just four people, said Betty Douglas, whose late husband served in Company K.

"My husband, Bill Douglas, started it with (Clyde Pinson), Clyde Justice and Roy Townsend," Mrs. Douglas said. "They were the first to meet. We used to have about 150 at the picnic on the Sunday before. Now we have about 40 – about a dozen of the men. And we have them come from New Orleans, California, Arkansas, Michigan and New Hampshire. We’re expecting one from Maryland and other people from Arkansas this year.

"They’ll all march in the parade Monday as a group."

While most groups of men and women drift apart as time passes, the bond between members of Company K continues to grow, and that’s what keeps bringing the people back, Ironton resident John Rowe said.

"We served together, and, ever since, we get back together," Rowe said. "We get to meet old friends from a long time ago. But, we’re getting fewer and fewer. We used to have a big crowd."

That’s to be expected, though. After all, the men first left Ironton in 1940, Rowe added.

"There are a 1,000 veterans a day that die," he said. "A lot of ours are gone, too."

The time has passed quickly for Pinson, though.

"It doesn’t seem that long ago when you think of it, but I guess it’s a long time for the younger generation," he said. "Back in the 1930s, back in the Depression era I went to the parade one time. I can remember the soldiers marching and I remember. "

Now, Pinson and his fellow Company K members are the soldiers marching. He hopes the parade serves as a reminder of all those soldiers who never made it back, or who are now gone.

"The parade brings veterans’ service before the public," Pinson said. "The public will forget you if you don’t blow your own horn, especially if you haven’t had a war in 20 years."

It doesn’t seem like the current generation has as much respect for America and the people who fought to preserve the country’s freedom, city resident Emmett Classing said.

"It’s a different generation," Classing said. "I don’t think they think about it."

But Classing thinks about it. Every time he sees a flag hung the wrong way he wants to take it down and put Old Glory up as it should be.

"People hang a flag and they don’t care which way it goes up," he said. "The flag is something that shouldn’t be desecrated. I know that every time I see a flag pass in a parade, I get a little lump in my throat."

And Classing hopes that when he and the other members of Company K brandish their flag in Monday’s parade the people on the sidelines take a moment to remember and give a salute.