The Grand Marshals for this year's Kennett Square Memorial Day parade have been named, and they are World War II veterans Michael B. Pratola, Jr., Fred Patrola, Sr., and Robert Hopkins, Sr.
The parade will be held on Monday, May 25, starting at 10 a.m. It kicks off at Kennett High School, travels up South Union Street, turns right at Cypress Street, then left on Broad Street, right on East State Street, turns right onto North Union Street, and ends at Union Cemetery with a special memorial ceremony. (It's a truly great parade.)
Bill Taylor, the parade's organizer, was kind enough to send me the following biographies and photos of the grand marshals:
Michael Pratola, Jr. was drafted in July 1944 and sent to Alabama for basic training. As part of the Fifth Army Infantry, he was shipped to Italy. Patrola, Jr. moved to the Special MP to guard Naples Harbor. At Naples Harbor he operated a 75-ton floating crane at the Harbor Craft Company, where he supervised the work of 12 Army veterans and 14 Italian civilians. He was discharged in August 1946.
In 1947, Fred Patrola, Sr. served with the Central HQ group in Tokyo, Japan. He served as a custodian during the War Crime Trials in a building referred to as the “West Point of Japan.” At that time, General MacArthur was in Tokyo, as well as lawyers from around the world.
Robert Hopkins, Sr. joined the US Marine Corps in 1944, completing his basic training at Parris Island, South Carolina. He was stationed in Guam, then sent to Chichi-jima to guard Japanese war crime criminals. Hopkins escorted the war criminals by ship to Guam and continued to guard them as they faced trial for their crimes. He was honorably discharged in 1946.
No comments:
Post a Comment