Sixty World War II veterans from Pennsylvania District 25, many in their upper eighties, braved foul weather Saturday, March 8 to attend a ceremony at the Johnsonburg Fire Hall. Some drove great distances on slushy roads, and then cautiously negotiated their way across the icy fire hall parking lot to be honored by Sen. Joe Scarnati (R-Jefferson) for their service more than six decades ago.

A majority of the veterans and their families hailed from the Johnsonburg, St. Marys area.

Sen. Scarnati, recovering from major surgery Wednesday, personally welcomed many of the veterans as they entered.

As he found public speaking difficult due to his surgery, Scarnati simply thanked everyone for coming out in such weather, and he thanked the veterans for their service to the country. Scarnati also stayed behind well after the program had ended for veterans to have their picture taken with him.

Scarnati, currently running for a third term in office, told the Ridgway Record that the Republican Caucus Committee organized the event for his, and several other senate districts across the state.

The keynote speaker was Second Lieutenant Joshua T. Fox, of Shinglehouse Pa., a civilian serving with the Pennsylvania Army National Guard.

“The United States Army teaches all basic training soldiers that duty is simply to fulfill your obligations. We all know that duty is more complicated than that,” Fox said.

“When soldiers found themselves going to war in Korea, Vietnam and the Persian Gulf, they looked at your actions to develop a more appropriate definition of duty; a definition that would carry them through the turmoil and struggles of war.”

Fox reminded the veterans that they had fought “in the heat of the desert in North Africa, the disease infested, humid jungles of the Pacific, through the beaches and hedgerows of France, and through the long tough winters in Bastogne…serving on ships, in tanks, on runways and in foxholes” to “end tyranny and oppression in distant lands” and to keep America safe at home.

Fox, who signed up with the National Guard following the 9/11 attacks, said men and women continue to “answer the call.” But today, soldiers fight in places with names such as Tora Bora, Bagram, Mosul, and Fallujah.

“You are patriots, warriors, and a true role model to all of those men and women who serve today,” Fox said.

Fox will be deployed to Iraq in the fall as leader of the 1st Platoon, company C, 1-112th Infantry, Stryker Brigade Combat Team. An estimated 2,500 men and women will be deployed with the 56th Brigade, including 150 from Ridgway, Bradford and Erie, Fox said. And by the end of the year, nearly 6,000 Pennsylvania Guardsmen will be serving in the Sinai Peninsula, Afghanistan and Iraq, Fox said.

    As their names were called, each of the veterans was given a certificate and a gold-plated medal with an eagle on it, hung from a red, white and blue ribbon. Each was personally thanked for their service by event organizers and Fox.

“We appreciate the effort made by Scarnati to present these awards. It was a very nice ceremony, and we appreciate the National Guardsman who spoke,” said Carl Imbrogno, Commander of VFW Post 6301 in Johnsonburg, following the ceremony. The post has 170 active members, the majority of whom are veterans from WW II, Imbrogno said.

One of the women present said she was glad that these veterans are now being recognized. She said it was a pity, however, that the recognition didn’t come earlier. She was among many others in District 25, who either attended the ceremony to pick up ribbons and certificates, or requested that they be mailed on behalf of husbands and relatives who had passed away.