CONCERT PARADE - Home page - APG News...A4 APG News • November 14, 2019 Maj. Gen. John George,...
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A4 APG News • November 14, 2019
Maj. Gen. John George, commander of the Combat Capabilities Development Command, waves to the crowd while riding in a vintage U.S. Army jeep with World War II-era ‘Soldiers’ and ‘Molly the Riveter’ during the inaugural Veterans Day parade in Havre de Grace, Maryland, Nov. 11, 2019.
A ceremony at Joseph L. Davis American Legion Post 47 followed the parade, which was led by Command Sgt. Maj. Frank Gutierrez, Communications-Electronics Command, and the Aberdeen Proving Ground color guard, followed by another vintage jeep carrying APG Senior Commander Maj. Gen. Mitchell Kilgo.
Photo by Yvonne Johnson, APG News
Veterans Day Parade in Havre de Grace
Jack Harris, a Korean War-era veteran and
a member of the Legion, said seeing a parade
for veterans made him feel good.
“I think it was a great idea,” he said, after
saluting the commanders. “I love it. It makes
me proud.”
Paul Gring of Aberdeen, a Vietnam veter-
an and former Prisoner of War, attended the
parade with his family; son Tony; daughter
Debbie; daughter-in-law Tiesha; grandson
Matthew, 14; granddaughter Bethany, 17;
and his wife of 56 years, Peggy Gring.
Born in Reading, Pennsylvania and raised
in Delaware, Gring said he joined the Army
in 1963. He attended the Ordnance Cen-
ter and Schools at APG and took addition-
al training at Fort Benning, Georgia and Fort
Polk, Louisiana, where he served as a drill
sergeant for a time.
Gring had two tours in Vietnam, the first
in 1968, during the Tet Offensive. He was
captured during his second tour - which he
calls his “extended tour” - in late 1969.
“We were on patrol and suddenly we were
surrounded,” he said. “There were just too
many of them.”
He and two comrades were taken into the
jungle and “put into holes” where the lived
for about six months until they were rescued.
“One guy didn’t make it, and the oth-
er one I saw on the hospital ship but I don’t
know where he is today.”
Large parts of his incarceration is blanked
out and Gring still meets with therapists to
deal with the residual effects of his ordeal.
His rescue is a bit clearer, he said.
“I remember this big black arm reaching
for me and then I blacked out,” he said. He
said he met his rescuer after he regained con-
sciousness on the hospital ship.
“He was a big black Marine and he
looked like [former NFL player and actor]
Rosie Greer,” he said. “He had a bandage on
his hand and he told me that’s where I bit him
before I blacked out.”
The two became friends but soon part-
ed company when Gring was flown back to
the states.
His homecoming wasn’t very welcom-
ing at first - people in the airport cursed and
threw food at the uniformed Soldiers and
they had to retreat to a hangar where they
were reunited with their families.
Today, Gring said he is grateful for his
family, his wife who stood by him all these
years, and the counselors at the VA who are
helping him deal with his past while facing
his future.
“I’ll be 74 in January and I still feel like
there’s a lot in front of me,” he said. “I’m still
in therapy, but I’ve learned you deal with it
the best way you can.”
“He deals with it every time lightening
strikes,” added Peggy Gring, “but we’re a fam-
ily and we’re in this together and we take it one
day at a time. “I’m proud of my husband and
I’m proud of my whole family.”
PARADEContinued from Page A1
Korean War-era veteran Jack Harris of Joseph L. Davis American Legion Post 47 salutes the military contingent during the inaugural Veterans Day Parade in Havre de Grace, Nov. 11, 2019.
Photo by Yvonne Johnson, APG News
Special guests included APG Senior Com-
mander and commander of the U.S. Army
Communications-Electronics Command Maj.
Gen. Mitchell Kilgo; Brig. Gen. Adam Flasch,
Director of the Joint Staff, Maryland Nation-
al Guard; CECOM and APG Installation
Command Sgt. Maj. Frank Gutierrez; and
Ms. Veteran America 2019, former Air Force
Reserves Lt. Col. Naviere Walkewicz. Kilgo
and Flasch participated in the honoree presen-
tations with BISM President Frederick Puente
and Commissioner Pleasala Collins.
The eight honorees included:
Jerry Wolf, a U.S. Marine Corps World
War II veteran and former Prisoner of War;
John Fay, a USMC veteran of the Vietnam
War; Susana Perez, a U.S. Navy Gulf War
veteran; and Operation Iraqi and Enduring
Freedom veterans Eugene Harris, U.S. Air
Force; Tasawur Shah, USMC; Curtis Jones,
USMC; Genoa Leon Graves; U.S. Army; and
Pierre O’Dell Larkin, USMC.
The Aberdeen Proving Ground color guard
presented the colors and cadets from the
Freestate ChalleNGe Academy greeted guests
and handed out programs.
From left, Frederick Puente, BISM president and Commissioner Pleasala Collins look on as former U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Pierre O’Dell Larkin is presented a certificate by APG Senior Commander Maj. Gen. Mitchell Kilgo during the Veterans Day Concert.
Photos by Yvonne Johnson, APG News
FOX 45 Evening News Anchor Kai Jackson, left, and Ms. Veteran America 2019, former Air Force Reserves Lt. Col. Naviere Walkewicz sing the national anthem during the opening ceremony of the Veterans Day Concert at the Water’s Edge Events Center in Belcamp, Nov. 9, 2019.
CONCERTContinued from Page A1