Middletown Memorial Day Parade to Honor Iraq War Veterans, Girl Scouts, Knights of Columbus and Pastor Hobart D White

The Middletown Area Memorial Day Association is well into the planning of this year’s Memorial Day Parade which will take place on Monday, May 28, 2012 beginning at 10:00 AM at Smith Park and traveling south on Verity Parkway to Woodside Cemetery for the Memorial Day Service.

This year’s Grand Marshal will be Corporal Ryan Kodros, an Iraq War Veteran and a Graduate of Fenwick High School. Kodros was born Nov. 22nd, 1985 in St. Louis (Creve Coeur actually), MO. His bio states, "I went to and graduated from Bishop Fenwick High school in Middletown. I went to recruit training 8/16/2004 and became a 1371 combat engineer in the Marine Corps. I was stationed in Okinawa, Japan for 2 years and was deployed to Thailand, Korea, and Iraq. I was in Iraq from February 2006 to September 2006. I finished my Marine Corps career as a range coach on Parris Island, SC, EASing as an E4/Corporal on 8/15/2008. I am the father of twin boys. My parents' names are Jim (deceased) and Lakme Kodros."

The Speaker for the Memorial Day Service will be Gold Star Parent and Patriot Guard Member James C Robinson Sr. Mr. Robinson's son, Sgt. James C. Robinson Jr., was killed in action, August 28, 2010 by indirect fire when Taliban insurgents launched a mortar attack on Forward Operating Base Boris in Paktika Provence Bermal Afghanistan. Mr. Robinson and his wife Kim reside in Middletown. They have created Shaboom's Inc. - SGT James C. Robinson Memorial Scholarship, After Jimmy's death, the recreation hall was re-named Shaboom's in his honor. So when we were starting a corporation to fund scholarships for High School students in his memory, it was only fitting that our new corporation's name be Shaboom's and so it has been born, http://shabooms.org/

Master of Ceremonies will be Duane Gordon, Director of Middletown Community Foundation

This year’s Memorial Day Parade is being dedicated to all Iraq War Veterans, The Girl Scouts of America celebrating 100 years of service, Knights of Columbus celebrating 100 years of service, and to Hobert White who was the Chaplain of the American Legion Post 218 and a Member of the Middletown Combined Honor Guard. Mr. White passed away on December 11, 2011.

Parade meetings are held each Thursday at 7 pm at the VFW Post 3808 in Middletown and all participants are asked to attend at least one meeting. The Parade Committee is also seeking three convertibles to drive our VIP's in the parade. If you can help them out, please call Joe Snider at 513-423-6017 for details or contact us through our website at http://vfw3809mv.tripod.com/middletownmemorialdayassociation