Celebrating Veterans Day at Lakewood Park: In Photos

Hundreds of people showed up at Lakewood Park to honor veterans on Veterans Day on Wednesday.

Lakewood’s Veterans Day program began with the Presentation of Colors followed by the singing of the National Anthem by The Four Vet Quartet.

This year’s keynote speaker was Joseph A. Jennings III.  Mr. Jennings has been the Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) National Director At-Large since 2011.  A Life member of VVA, he joined the organization in March 1987. He was first elected as a delegate to the Ohio State Council in 1994, and in 1996, he was appointed interim VVA Ohio State Council Secretary, a position that he was subsequently elected to for three consecutive, two-year terms. Joseph served as VVA’s National Minority Affairs Committee chair until April 2001 and was then hired as executive director of VVA’s Buckeye State Council. In 2002, he earned his VVA and the Department of Veterans Affairs accreditation as a National Service Officer. Joseph has served on the VVA National Minority Affairs Committee, the VVA National Economics Opportunity Committee, and the National VVA Veterans Benefits Committee. He has been state chair of the Buckeye State Council Veterans Benefits Committee since 2006.

A member of the “Class of 1965,” Jennings began his military service upon his graduation from Bishop Hartley High School in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio. He entered the U.S. Army in December 1967 and completed Basic Training at Fort Gordon, Georgia. He completed his AIT (Advanced Individual Training) as a Meteorological Observer for R&D and Ballistics at Ft. Monmouth, New Jersey. Jennings was stationed at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, and eventually Song Be, RVN. Subsequent to his military service he spent several years working in the corporate world, to include Huntington Bank Shares, Borden Inc., and Qwest Communications (now known as Century Link). He currently resides in Lakewood, Ohio.

Other highlights of this year’s program included performances by the Lakewood High School Band, The Four Vet Quartet and a 21-gun salute by the Joint Veterans Honor Guard.