Caps off to you, veterans! Veterans Day activities in El Reno, Midwest City and Tahlequah typified how much Oklahomans value their veterans.
by Richard Stephens, Jr. and Don Nichols
El Reno
The 14th Veterans Day celebration on Nov. 9 started with a parade downtown and finished with recognizing veterans at the Centre Theater. Hosted by the El Reno Chamber of Commerce, the theme was “Route to Freedom.”
Thirty groups showed their support at 3:00 p.m. by marching downtown on a sunny but cold day. Following a horse-riding Girl Scout with an American flag were El Reno’s High School Marching Band, Fire and Police Departments, Cruisers, and Round-Up Club, as well as the Heritage Express Trolley carrying veterans, U.S. Cavalry Association at Fort Reno, Disabled American Veterans, Make It Sew, Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes and others.
Afterwards, inside the Centre Theater, after opening with civic ceremonies, 2025’s Veterans of the Year were recognized: Wilbur Ellis, Patrick Evans, Doug Lott, Daniel Taylor, Terry Walker and Gaylen Young. Each received a certificate and beautiful quilts made by sewers from the Make It Sew business. Owner MaCrae Putnam said, “These quilts represent a tangible hug to a chosen veteran.”
Brian Rukes, a El Reno High School teacher, addressed the 150 attendees and said what “really bothers me and this goes back to the home, really, more than anything else, is when we stand up in the morning and we still say the Pledge of Allegiance, most of the students still stand….but very few students actually say the pledge.” He requested school children to “say it proud, say it loud, say it so people can hear…”
“Freedom is not free,” said Karen Nance, Executive Director of the El Reno Chamber of Commerce, “and what a blessing it is to honor those who have given us that freedom.”
Midwest City
Sixty 60 groups participated in a half-mile long parade on Nov. 11. Hosted by the City of Midwest City, this year’s Parade Marshal was Lt. Col (Ret.) Maury Hardy, a former member of the Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) who exemplified the city’s theme of “Proudly Honoring Our Military’s AWACS” at Tinker AFB.
The Midwest City Fire and Police Honor Guard led the parade with groups like Parker Brothers Roofing, the Reserve Organization of America, Catholic War Veterans Post 168, Oklahoma County Sheriffs, St. Phillip Neri Middle School, and Dental Depot following, to the delight of onlookers.
With temperatures warming to the 50s, thousands of cheering, flag-waving onlookers lined the parade route that followed 15th Street, Douglas Avenue and Reno Avenue. About three thousand people were on hand.
Five Tulsa Warbirds PT-19s flew over the parade in the clear sky. Members of FMB Bank, Junior Service League and Rose State College carried a giant American flag. As a new addition to the parade, Mid-Del military families walked together in a show of support to our servicemen and servicewomen.
Lt Col (Ret.) Maury Hardy was the first AWACS pilot to fly out of Tinker AFB in 1977. He told the Midwest City Beacon about that first flight. “The first mission never got off the ground. It developed a fuel leak…There were hundreds of people watching us, because everyone wanted to see the first E-3 take off,” he said. A few days later the same modified Boeing 707 finally took off.
Groups were happy to talk about participating. “It’s a great opportunity for us to get out and be in the parade and say, ‘Thank You,” said Tony Bennett of VFW Post 7192. Carl Albert Marching Band Director Travis Miller said, “The Veterans Day parade is always one of the most favorite events we do because the meaning for us and because we bring music to our wonderful community.”
Tahlequah
The Military Order of the Purple Heart held a wreath laying ceremony at The Purple Heart National Monument in Tahlequah on November 11 to remember veterans who gave their lives in Vietnam and to honor their families. Approximately 250 people attended.
A central and moving part of the ceremony was several families of Vietnam veterans who honored their loved ones by laying wreathes. Modeled after the Laying of the Wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, each family advanced a wreath and placed it at the foot of the Purple Heart Monument. Troy Jackson, the tomb’s artist, Harold Ogden, Paul Braun and Don Nichols attended along with Woody and Bonnie Bruchett and his wife, who were principal members who erected the Monument.
