Lorain County Marines celebrate USMC's 247th anniversary

ELYRIA — Lorain County Marines celebrated the corps' 247th birthday on Thursday. Veterans from various military branches gathered at the AMVETS Post 32 in Elyria to celebrate the nearly 250 years of courage and tenacity of the Marine Corps. Post Commander Sean Rutter pledged to host the gathering as long as the building remains standing. He also gave a nod to late AMVETS Honor Guard member Ken Sedlak, with boxes of Crayola crayons out on the tables. "Those are for your snacking pleasure," he said with a laugh, referencing an inside joke among military branches about Marines' supposed intelligence levels. But joking aside, a group of Marines has been recognizing the corps' birthday since the early 1990s in Elyria, Cpl. Pat Foreman said. Foreman's father was a World War II Marine veteran and started meeting with fellow veterans in downtown Elyria, he said. The meetings were highlighted by The Chronicle-Telegram's Connie Davis, who was later made an honorary Marine for her coverage, Foreman said. "This is the 30th anniversary and I think of my dad and I think of all the other gentlemen — I have known so many wonderful gentlemen," he said. "And at the time this was passed on to me, I was 60 years old. … But we've done it with pride and had a great time doing it." Sgt. Dan Clement read the commandant's message, as required at every celebration of the corps' founding. In his remarks, General David Berger noted since 1775 Marines have been found in every conflict the country has faced. And while battlefields have changed, Marines have always adapted to the environment. "It's the individual war fighters, and their love for each other, that makes our corps as formidable a force today as it has been for the past 247 years," Berger said in his remarks, published on the branch's website. "It's our ethos and our unapologetic resolve to be the most capable and lethal fighting force that sets us apart from the rest." Thursday's guest speaker was Brian Safran, who approached those working on the Carlisle Township Veterans Memorial about his project "Flight of Flags," which looks to give service members' flags a final sendoff by carrying them on a World War II plane. The idea grew, in part, out of the saying when a pilot dies they're "going west," and there's usually a flyover at the end of the funeral, with the pilot wiggling the wings at the end in a sendoff. Safran always wanted to be that pilot, but instead he was a pallbearer and found himself looking down at the flag draped over his friends' caskets, or watching the honor guard solemnly hand it to the widow at the graveside service. He remembered his best friend's funeral and the pilot flying overhead did a roll at the end of the service. "People started shouting, clapping and cheering and whistling and I'm thinking 'Oh my God, whoever thought that there could be an uplifting moment at the end of a funeral?'" he said. "So I started thinking what else can we be doing to make these solemn occasions a little more special?" Partnering with the Liberty Aviation Museum in Port Clinton, the Flight of the Flags gives pilots a chance to keep the historic planes in flying condition, while giving service members the recognition they deserve, he explained. The morning ended with the oldest and youngest Marines in attendance cutting the cake. The two oldest marines there were Don Ahlgren, 92, of Lorain, and Walter Warner, 91, of Elyria. They were joined by the youngest marine, 44-year-old Chris Pyanowski. Warner served from 1949 to 1956 and was "proud to be a Marine," he said Thursday. Ahlgren, originally from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, enlisted in Des Moines in the late 1940s. He served from 1948 to 1952, including Fox Company 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines in Guam. He got back from Guam in 1951, before being sent to Korea. After his discharge, he enrolled at the University of Iowa, and upon graduating got a job at U.S. Steel and moved to Lorain. Ahlgren worked at U.S. Steel until his retirement, then worked as a courier for Wickens Herzer Panza until he fully retired in 1971. Pyanowski spent six years in the Marine Corps, including a five-month tour in Iraq and Kuwait as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom, before returning to Elyria in 2003. He now works as an assistant county prosecutor. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.