Remember When: Veterans Day celebrations in 1945 recognized A-K Valley's heroes

Veterans Day in the Alle-Kiski Valley was observed recently with reverence and reflection.

While all Veterans Days are important, one might consider Nov. 11, 1945, the biggest Veterans Day of all.

It was the first Veterans Day following the end of World War II, just 71 days after Japan signed the formal surrender papers.

It also is important to note that what we now call Veterans Day was known as Armistice Day until 1954 when President Dwight Eisenhower made the change. The name derived from the Armistice signed to end World War I on Nov. 11, 1918 (11/11 at 11:11 a.m.).

Leechburg Boosters Club (a civic group, not a sports group) held its annual Armistice Day dinner for veterans of World Wars I and II at the Hebron Church. More than 130 veterans and active military members were honored. One of the honorees was Pfc. Louis Klingensmith of Parks Township who was blinded during a battle in Europe.

The Tarentum First Methodist Church held its Armistice Day dinner to honor the seven church members who died during World War II. Seven candles burned on the altar during the service.

Keep in mind there were thousands of local troops still serving in the military. All were not discharged at the end of the war.

The Tarentum Valley Daily News listed all war veterans as they returned home.

One was Petty Officer Horace C. White of New Kensington. White was on the hospital ship the USS Benevolence when it was a companion to the USS Missouri as both entered Tokyo Bay for the Japanese surrender.

The Benevolence was there to receive rescued prisoners of war held by Japan. White recalled interviewing those who endured hardships as POWs in a Daily News article.

Armistice Day fell on a Sunday in 1945. There is no record of any area parades, but on that particular day, numerous church services were held.

One notable service was the Mass offered at St. Victory Church in the Bairdford section of West Deer in honor of Sgt. Joseph Pallo. Pallo was killed on Okinawa on May 15, 1945, when a mortar shell exploded nearby.

Pallo’s Bairdford buddy, Elmer “Sonny” Millian, was knocked unconscious by the same explosion, but he survived.

Pallo is buried in the Sixth Marine Division Cemetery on Okinawa.

East Deer commissioners voted to “recognize the increased flow of returning war vets” by authorizing three “Welcome Home” signs across Freeport Road at West Tarentum and West New Kensington entrances to the township and at the honor roll, still located at the corner of Freeport and Crawford Run roads.

Getting home safely wasn’t a given. An unidentified, discharged veteran was killed on the Pennsylvania Turnpike near Everett. State police were in the process of contacting Army officials through his dog tags.

The discharges also created a problem when housing was in short supply following the war. A classified ad on Nov. 12, 1945, stated: “VETERAN and his wife looking for an apartment or home to rent in Tarentum. The couple ‘had good references.’ ”

In a related move, the Nuremberg trial of war criminals was set to begin on Nov. 20, 1945. A 10-man American staff of trial counsel, the actual prosecutors, was appointed Nov. 9.