Early celebrations honor veterans of many wars

By Felix Hoover

For YourNewsColumbus.com

Several local events got an early start on the Veterans Day federal holiday , which is Tuesday, and many vets who have made significant contributions to society during and after their military days received a fitting salute.

Korean War veterans took the spotlight on Saturday at the OSU African American and African Studies Community Extension Center on Mount Vernon Avenue.

After the talk by featured speaker Bruce Tyler, associate professor of history at the University of Louisville, a local panel of folks whose military service encompassed the Korean Conflict Era, recounted their military experiences from a black perspective.

Unlike their World War II counterparts, Korean War veterans served in a military that was racially integrated. American society, however, was still highly segregated in ways that wouldn’t change until the Civil Rights Movement of the late 1950s and ‘60s.

“The service was integrated, but not the prisons,” said Melvin Steward Sr., a noted entrepreneur and civic leader on Mount Vernon Avenue, who told the crowd that he had been the first prison sergeant in the Air Force.

Ola Dunson, who served in the Air Force from 1950 to ’54, talked about “24 white guys and me,” who showed unity and creativity in a train trip from the recruiting station in his native Georgia to the duty station at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas.

After the group discovered that restaurants wouldn’t serve Dunson because of his race, they decided to order take-out sandwiches instead.

“They surrounded me and they fed me,” he said.

Once at Lackland, Dunson integrated the barracks without hassle, he said.

If anything, he helped dispel notion among some of the whites in his unit who had been taught at home that all blacks lack intelligence, he said.

After the panel discussion and a Q&A, Extension Center Director Judson Jeffries presented certificates of distinction to the Korean War veterans who were present. Senior-most among them was James Williams, who turns 90 in two weeks.

Friday was also a big day for local veterans, beginning with a Downtown parade at noon.

The rain was steady, but the crowds were scattered along the parade route that started in the Nationwide Arena District and proceeded along N. High and W. Broad streets to Veterans Memorial.

 At Vets, James A. Johnson, the man responsible for the city’s first Block Crime Watch program was among 20 former military people inducted into the 2008 Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame.

“I nominated him and thought he was most deserving,” said his son Tony, who lives on the Southeast Side.

The elder Johnson organized the block watch in 1981 to serve the Driving Park area and remains active with it and numerous other civic organizations.

Patriotic banners and other appropriate decorations framed the Veterans Memorial auditorium, where Gov. Ted Strickland presented medals to Johnson and the other honorees.

Former Mayor Greg Lashutka, who served in the Navy, was among those inducted into this year’s hall of fame. He was not present on Friday, but his daughter, Lara Crotty, accepted the honor on his behalf.