armed forces - 2013

THE 65TH ANNUAL ARMED FORCES DAY PARADE IS SATURDAY, MAY 18 STARTING AT 10 AM

“Our annual Armed Forces Parade is the longest running

and largest in the United States!”

bREMERTON CHAMbER OF COMMERCE

ArmedForces

2013 Festival Guide

Page A2 ARMED FORCES 2013 FESTIVAL GUIDE Friday, May 17, 2013

Harrison Medical Center salutes the men and women in uniform and their families

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Harrison Medical Center salutes themen and women in uniform and their families

on Armed Forces Day 2013—and every day.

By LesLie KeLLy

Bremerton celebrates its 65th annual Armed Forces Day on Saturday with a parade, pancake breakfast, barbecue lun-cheon and a host of fes-tive activities honoring our veterans, active duty and reserve forces. This event, the longest running Armed Forced Day parade in the U.S., comes just two weeks after the arrival home of the USS John C. Stennis and will feature Sailors and their families from the Stennis.Native son Norm Dicks, who retired last year after 36 years in Congress, will be the civilian grand marshal.Rear Adm. Mark Rich, Navy Region Northwest commander, will be the military grand marshal.But this year’s parade will have a new route and a few less participants than in past years.Because of the federal

budget problems, the event will not include the Navy plane f ly over or the National Guard tank participation, said Mike Strube, president of the Bremerton Chamber of Commerce.In fact, entries in the parade are expected to be down from the normal 150 to about 125, he said.“It’s a little smaller than normal,” Strube said. “But with the new parade route, things are going to be better.”A new route was put in place because of chang-es with the city’s traffic system. The parade will no longer cross Fourth Street, he said. This year, the parade will follow a new shorter route in order to reduce the amount of time the roads are closed in the area on Saturday.The theme of this year’s parade is “Because of our Families and for the Future of our Families.”Bremerton started the parade in 1948 to honor John “Bud” Hawk. Known

as Bremerton’s home-town hero, Hawk entered the service in Bremerton and was awarded a Medal of Honor by President Harry Truman at the Washington State Capitol in Olympia.Although not well enough to attend the parades any-more, Hawk will turn 89 on May 30 and remains the perennial grand mar-shall. Hawk, who taught 5th and 6th grade in Bremerton beginning in 1952, started his teach-ing career at Tracyton Elementary. In addition to his Medal of Honor, Hawk is the recip-ient of four Purple Hearts and a Distinguished Conduct Medal from the United Kingdom. The first Armed Forces Day was celebrated nationally on May 20, 1950, one month before the Korean War began. The holiday was officially designated in 1949. Prior to that, each branch of the military had its own special day. The day was created by President

Truman on August 31, 1949. The five branches of the armed forces had just been consolidated under the Department of Defense.Bremerton’s Armed Forces Day celebration in 1950 had the slogan, “Teamed for Defense.” C.A. “Buzz” King, General Chairman of the Armed Forces Day event, wrote in a typed and mimeographed report to Captain C.O. Humphreys that there were seven speaking engagements and one parade. King estimated 14,000 people attended the parade, 800 people attended a military ball and 11,750 individu-als visited the Bremerton shipyard and shops. The 1950 Bremerton Armed Forces Day sched-ule of events included a public judging of baked beans and cornbread contest (won by the U.S. Naval barracks) at the shipyard cafeteria, for-mations of navy aircraft from Whidbey Island f ly-ing over Bremerton and a

public military ball at the Bremerton Civic Center from 9 p.m. to midnight. While still maintain-ing the tradition of the parade, Bremerton has incorporated additional events, such as an annual golf tournament, a pan-cake breakfast and a free barbecue for active duty, reserve and veterans.The estimated parade attendance is between 25,000 and 30,000 peo-ple, running two or three people deep along the entire parade route.Along the parade route, Warren Avenue will remain open to traffic. The parade will start at 11th Avenue and Park. Some of the classic cars will assemble in the Olympic College parking lot and will then merge onto the parade route.Also new this year will be some vendors along the sidewalks on Fifth Street, including parade souve-nirs and arts and crafts.“It’s something we thought we’d try,” Strube

said. “If it goes over well, we want to expand it next year.”The A section of the parade will have many local military dignitaries, Strube said.“We actually have more local VIPs than most years,” he said. “And we have a couple of hundred Sailors from the Stennis who will be walking in the parade. But we won’t have any dignitaries from the Navy command from outside the area because with the budget cuts they can’t travel to be here.”The parade will include high school bands and drill team, service orga-nizations, private dance and drill teams, com-mercial trucks including the Pepsi Cola truck and the Puget Sound Energy truck, classic cars, fire trucks and law enforce-ment vehicles and of course, Shriner’s clowns.The parade is expected to be about an hour in length.

Friday, May 17, 2013 ARMED FORCES 2013 FESTIVAL GUIDE Page A3

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By Luciano Marano, contributor

In the pantheon of great American presidents there are several peren-nial names. It seems an almost unanimous conclusion among the American people that the list of our country’s greatest leaders, against which all others are mea-sured, inevitably includes at least George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy. A name not mentioned often enough, a man who surely deserves to be counted among these exemplary individuals, is Harry S. Truman.President Truman inherited the position of Commander-in-chief following the sudden pass-ing of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, having only held the position of Vice President for 82 days. With no real experience in the field of foreign policy, let alone war-time decision making, President Truman undertook the grim task of authorizing the usage of the atomic bomb in the ending of the second World War. Within six months of assuming office, he had signed the official charter ratifying the United Nations. Seemingly at his best during

times of conflict, it was arguably President Truman’s policy of con-tainment that enabled the country to avoid actual combat against the Soviet Union, thus beginning the Cold War. He also authorized the country’s initial involvement in the Korean War. It should come as no surprise then, that a politician dealing so heavily with the military would be the one to create Armed Forces Appreciation Day, which is still today recognized annually on the third Saturday of May. “Armed Forces Day, Saturday, May 20, 1950, marks the first com-bined demonstration by America’s

defense team of its progress, under the National Security Act, towards the goal of readiness for any eventu-ality,” said President Truman dur-ing the Presidential Proclamation of Feb. 27, 1950. “It is the first parade of preparedness by the unified forc-es of our land, sea, and air defense.” According to an article on the Department of Defense pub-lic website, “On August 31, 1949, Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson announced the creation of Armed Forces Day to replace separate Army, Navy and Air Force Days.” It goes on to say that “the single day celebration stemmed from the uni-

fication of the Armed Forces under one department – the Department of Defense.”The article says that the theme for the first Armed Forces Day was “Teamed for Defense” and was cho-sen as a means of expressing the unification of all the military forces under a single department of the government. It was a type of ‘educa-tional program for civilians’, one in which there would be an increased awareness of the Armed Forces.” The annual event is typically cel-ebrated with parades, military installation “open houses” or public displays and even air shows. Of course, the very nature of the busi-ness of defending the nation means that not everyone in the services will be able to enjoy the down time and festivities. Somebody always has to be on duty. It was a notion addressed very well in a New York Times article published May 17, 1952. The paper said that Armed Forces Day “is the day on which we have the welcome opportunity to pay special tribute to the men and women of the Armed Forces … to all the individuals who are in the service of their country all over the world. Armed Forces Day won’t be a matter of parades and receptions for a good many of them. They will be in the line of duty and

some of them may give their lives in that duty.”The Times went on to say, “It is our most earnest hope that those who are in positions of peril, that those who have made exceptional sacrifices, yes, and those who are afflicted with plain drudgery and boredom, may somehow know that we hold them in exceptional esteem. Perhaps if we are a little more con-scious of our debt of honored affec-tion they may be a little more aware of how much we think of them.”Regardless of personal politics and beliefs, it is imperative that we as a nation remember that the Armed Forces is an organization that exists primarily for our own protection. We have finally advanced our national mindset so that the people know you can be against the war and still be for the troops. The men and women of the Armed Forces are our mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, our children and our friends. To give pause and thank them for all that they do, even just once a year, is not too much to ask. Today, through ever-improving technological advances and a highly qualified all-volunteer based mili-tary like no other on the planet, we are closer than ever to achieving what President Truman had called “readiness for any eventuality.”

A day to remember: The history of Armed Forces Day

File photo

A school drill team struts the Armed Forces Day parade route in 2012.


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By LesLie KeLLy

Years ago, when Margie Torbron went looking for a way to get her Girl Scout Troop entered in the Armed Forces Day parade in Bremerton, lit-tle did she know that she’d become so involved.“I was just trying to find out how to get the Girl Scouts I was working with to be able to march in the parade,” Torbron said. “That led to work-ing with the Chamber of Commerce and that led to becoming active with the Lions.”And all of that led Torbron, who is well known as a “communi-ty volunteer” to helping with the parade, the golf tournament, the pan-cake breakfast and the Ambassadors Scholarship Program - all important events that are part of the Armed Forces Day celebration this week in Bremerton.As Torbron explained, the Lions Club began the Ambassadors pro-gram as a way of offering scholarships to area high

school students. The stu-dents are leaders who are selected competitively and are honored at a spe-cial ceremony.Torbron said applica-tions are accepted and reviewed by a commit-tee of the Lions. The students write essays on “What Freedom Means to Me.”“The essays are judged and the students are interviewed,” she said. “And each of them have to give a report on an interview they conduct with a veteran or a person who becomes a natural-ized citizen. It’s all about getting the students to think about the freedoms we have here in the U.S. and what it really means to be a citizen.”This year five students were selected to be the 2013 Armed Forces Day Lions Ambassadors and each received a financial scholarship ranging from $250 to $1,500, to be spent on their continu-ing education.But that is not where the Lions Club work ends with regards to the week of celebration.

They also sponsor Saturday’s pancake breakfast at Fourth Street and Pacific Avenue.“It’s just a great location,” she said. “It’s right on the parade route.”The Lions sell from 400 to 500 breakfasts each year, she said.

“We have four people making eggs and sau-sages and four people on the other side cook-ing pancakes,” she said. “Our Lions members get up real early and get going and then they go for hours.”For $5, each guest gets

two pancakes, two eggs, two sausages, coffee and juice.“And we have students who come down and help serve and clear the tables,” she said. “They are our helpers.”Pancakes are ready about 7 a.m. and things wind

down around 10 a.m. just before the parade begins.No one’s really sure how or when the pancake breakfast got started, Torbron said. But every-one looks forward to it year after year.“It wouldn’t be the Armed Forces Day parade with-out those pancakes,” she said.Ida Malone, also with the Lions, said she thinks this is about the 40th year for the pancake breakfast.“We started doing it way back, when the parade committee asked us,” she said. “Who really knows how long ago that was?”There are more than 60 Lions who help with the breakfast and planning for it starts in the fall.“Then in the last few months before the date, we go full blast,” Malone said.Lions Club members say they cook more than 1,000 eggs and 1,000 sau-sages during the break-fast. And again about that many pancakes.

Bremerton Central Lions are the backbone of many events

Contributed Photo

Ambassador Scholars: Front row, left to right: Madison Grahn, James Wojciechowski, Valerie Ebbay. Back row, left to right: Nicoleen Lebita, Kaylee Brace. Madison placed first in the competition and James placed second.

Saturday, May 18 Bremerton Central Lions Club Pancake Breakfast

On Fourth Street downtown Bremerton 7 a.m. to 10 a.m.

65th Annual Bremerton Central Lions Charitable Foundations’s Armed Forces Day Parade

Downtown Bremerton Free to the public Begins at 10 a.m.

Puget Sound Energy Heroes BBQ Free BBQ for veterans, active duty, reserve forces and their families

Downtown Bremerton on parade route, on Pacific Ave., between Fourth Street and Burwell. 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Kitsap Chapter of Military Officers Association of America Armed Forces Day Luncheon

Call 360-697-1964 for more information.

Legend Harley Davidson BBQ and music hosted by Silverdale Harley Owners Group (HOG) Chapter

9625 Provost Rd. NW, Silverdale 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Puget Sound Navy Museum Beginning with approximately 600 objects, the Museum’s collection now numbers more than 18,000. Building 50 provides the Museum with 7,909 square feet of exhibition space and 4,392 square feet of collections storage. Today, visitors can explore the naval history

of the region and experience life as a sailor through exhibits about the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, the USS John C. Stennis, and much more.

Free to the public Open Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday 1 to 4 p.m.

USS Turner Joy The USS Turner Joy (DD-951), famed Navy destroyer from the Vietnam War, is now

maintained and administered by the Bremerton Historic Ships Association. The museum ship and memorial honors not only the men and women of our modern US Navy, but also recognizes the accomplishments of those who help build and maintain the Navy’s ships as

well. Active duty military with ID admitted free

10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Kitsap Historical Society & Museum Admission: Adults, $2.00; families, $5.00; children 7 to 17, $1.00

280 Fourth St., Bremerton Open Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday 12 to 4 p.m.

Navy League Armed Forces Day Gala Admiral Theatre from 6 to 10 p.m.

515 Pacific Ave., Bremerton Civilian dress: black tie or business clothing

Military dress: dinner dress or uniform

Sunday, May 19 5th Annual Youth Academy Ride

8:30 a.m. check in; 10 a.m. Bike Show Pendergast Park

$15 for bike and rider, $5 for passenger.


Thank You Armed ForcesThe brave men and women of our Armed Forces serve selflessly to keep our families, communities, and country free.

We are grateful and appreciate the sacrifices that you and your families make to keep us safe and secure.

Armed ForcesHeroes, Protectors, Family

kitsapcu.org

Join Us At The ParadeHelp honor our armed forces and wave to our own guest of honor, branch manager Wanda Moore. Wanda is retiring this month after serving our members and community for over 30 years.

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By LesLie KeLLy

Eric Rempillo has been in the U.S. Army since April of 2012. And as of Saturday, he’s been a U.S. citizen for three days.“It’s just so cool,” said Rempillo. “I’m just very proud to be a citizen.”Rempillo, 24, a native of the Philippines came to the United States in 2009 with his father and brothers. They settled in Hawaii where his step-mother had friends and family. After seeing what liv-ing in the United States was like, Rempillo decided that he’d join the Army.He did his basic training and then advanced training and decided to become a medic. He was then stationed at Joint Base Lewis McChord where he has been since September 2012.Just recently, he was offered the opportunity to become a citizen in an expedited fash-ion because he is an Army soldier, and he took advan-tage of that.“I wanted to be a citizen because life is better in the U.S.,” he said. “There are more freedoms and there is less discrimination. There is the freedom of speech which is so important and here, the relationships between the races are better.”Even though his citizen-ship was on the fast track, Rempillo had to study for the civics exam.“It wasn’t too hard for me, but I did have to study,” he said.At the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services natu-ralization ceremony this past Thursday, which was a part of the annual Armed Forces Week celebration in Bremerton, Rempillo wore his Army dress uniform and had some friends with him. His family was too far away and could not attend.His younger brother is in the Army, too, and is serving in Afghanistan.The ceremony Thursday was held on the USS Turner Joy which is maintained by the Bremerton Historic Ships Association as a museum ship.Rempillo said he was excited about that.“I am glad to have the oppor-tunity to be on a Navy ship,

too,” he said. “That’s a new experience for me.”Rempillo plans a career in the Army.“At first I didn’t know,” he said. “But after going through all the training, I know this is what I want to do. I love help-ing other people and saving lives, especially those of my brothers and sisters in the Army.”He said he found the Army a bit different than he thought it would be.“It’s such a big organization,” he said. “But everybody is like family. We all watch over each other.”Rempillo plans a barbecue soon to celebrate his citizen-ship.“My friends and I like to cook when we have the time,” he said. “And we like to cruise around and go fishing.”One of the first things

Rempillo hopes to do as a citizen, is begin the process of petitioning the govern-ment to sponsor his mother to come to the United States.“She’s still in the Philippines and I haven’t seen her since 2009 when I left for Hawaii,” he said. “I’d love to have her be able to see where I live now.”At Thursday’s ceremony, 12 active duty military members including Sailors and Soldiers and two veterans took their oath of citizenship. All active duty members who are not U.S. citizens and serve dur-ing declared armed conflicts are immediately eligible to apply to become citizens at no cost.Thursday’s ceremony was the third naturalization ceremo-ny held in conduction with Armed Forces Day hosted by the Navy in the area.


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Army private among a dozen new citizens

File Photo

The oath of citizenship is given to service members in 2011 as part of the Armed Forces Week events in Bremerton.

armed forces - 2013

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armed forced day parade

years parade

familieson armed forces

military appreciation

new parade route

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