WWII veterans among those honored at Riverwoods parade, ceremony

Nov. 7—LEWISBURG — Two World War II veterans participated in Thursday's Veterans Day Celebration and Parade at RiverWoods in Lewisburg.

Ralph Noble and John Snook were among 49 veterans at the facility at 15 Ridgecrest Circle, Lewisburg, to be part of the festivities to celebrate veterans. The event featured a parade to kick off the morning followed by a ceremony.

"It's an honor," Noble, a veteran of the U.S. Army Airborne during WWII from 1943 to 1946, said. "I always wanted to serve, so I volunteered. It was a good experience and one of the highlights of my life."

Noble, who will turn 100 on Nov. 14, has lived at RiverWoods for three years. He said the parade also honors those who did not survive.

U.S. Air Force veteran Joe Gehringer, who served as a radio operator at a NATO base in Turkey from 1964 to 1968, helped organize the event.

"It's neat that we can bring them out and honor these guys," Gehringer said. "I'm a young chicken compared to some of these guys. To me, these guys are heroes."

The special guest speaker was retired U.S. Army Col. Jeff Johnson, who served from 1977 to 2004. Born and raised in Lewisburg, Johnson, whose mother lives in nursing care at RiverWoods, said he comes from a long line of family members in the military.

Events like this "should happen every day," Johnson, of New Columbia, said. "The freedom we enjoy today is because of guys like this. They wrote the check for their lives."

RiverWoods has 49 residents who served in the Air Force, Army, Army Airborne, Marines and Navy. They also honored nine veteran residents who died in the past year.

The ceremony and parade featured the Lewisburg High School Marching Band and the Bucknell ROTC.

"It's wonderful to be patriotic," resident Jody Fanelli said as she watched the parade with her fellow resident Nancy Stahnecker.

Fanelli's late husband was a soldier in World War II. He was injured with shrapnel in his head, she said.