WWII vets saluted at V-E Day remembrance

Pennsylvania is home to about 7,000 World War II veterans, all in their 90s or older. Eleven of them were honored yesterday, May 8, with a picnic that included 1940s singing and dancing at Macungie Memorial Park near Allentown.

I knew a few of the men and spoke with all of them, and came away grateful for their sacrifice and courage.

The occasion was the seventy-ninth anniversary of Nazi Germany’s surrender, called V-E Day for “victory in Europe.” Japan’s surrender four months later, on September 2, 1945, ended the war and was called V-J Day, for “victory over Japan.”

Here are the men, great patriots all, who attended the event presented by the Lehigh Valley Chapter of the Battle of the Bulge Association:

ARMY

Herb Ridyard, 98, of Elizabethtown, with the 94^th Infantry Division in the Battle of the Bulge

Angelo Bokeko, 101, of Lower Macungie, with the 13^th Armored Division in Europe and a recipient of two Bronze Stars       

MARINE CORPS

Walter LaSota, 98, of Reading, a rifleman with the 6^th Marine Division who earned two Purple Hearts on Okinawa

MERCHANT MARINE

Bill Balabanow, 98, of Lancaster, a radio operator on cargo ships who had thirty-three years of sea duty

Lou Cinfici, 95, of Reading, an engineman on a seagoing tugboat who later served in the Navy in the Korean and Vietnam wars

NAVY

Ed Conrad, 97, of Fleetwood, a Seabee on Okinawa

Ed Czechowski, 99, of Reading, a gunner on the destroyer Saufley in the Pacific

Matt Gutman, 99, of Allentown, a Higgins boat coxswain on a landing ship, tank (LST) in the Pacific

John Ongaro, 98, of Allentown, a crewman on an Atlantic freighter

Bob Pearce, 101, of Emmaus, an aviation weather specialist in the Philippines

Jere Stabley, 97, of Lancaster, a baker on the light cruiser Spokane

Gutman, whom I interviewed for The Morning Call in 2022, and Balabanow are bound for Normandy next month for ceremonies marking the eightieth anniversary of D-Day, June 6, 1944.