 |
Photo courtesy of Amy Spanogle |
Thanks to six wounded soldiers, The American Legion’s Heroes to Hometowns program received not only national but celebrity attention as well at the recent 500 Festival Parade during the Indianapolis 500 race weekend.
Riding on The American Legion’s float, “Heroes to Hometowns,” in front of 300,000 spectators were: Staff Sgt. Patrick K. Shannon, Indiana Army National Guard, from Indianapolis; Sgt. Wade Walling, Indiana Army National Guard, from Connersville, Ind.; Lance Cpl. Paul Hizo, USMC, from Rochester, Ind.; Col. Ralph Romine, USAF, from Avon, Ind.; Petty Officer 1st Class Troy Adams, USN, Fishers, Ind. and Sgt. Michael Maynard, Indiana Army National Guard, Cloverdale, Ind. According to local news media and parade officials, these wounded warriors riding on The American Legion’s Heroes to Hometown float received nothing but standing ovations from spectators and other parade participants as it passed through the downtown streets of Indianapolis. ESPN-2 televised the parade nationally.
“I was immediately struck by the thought, "What did I do to deserve such accolades" when seeing the crowd on their feet cheering us on the float,” said Sgt. Mike Maynard of the Indiana Army National Guard. “I realized that the applause wasn't for me personally but for who and what I represented, that is the thousands of injured soldiers from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
This annual super event is partially staged at The American Legion National Headquarters, where the celebrities and VIPs riding the float are housed until the start of the parade. This year, these wounded servicemembers were introduced to the gathering of celebrities as “America’s heroes.” For the next ninety minutes, the celebrities embraced and welcomed these new Legionnaires as if they were members of their own families.
Among the celebrities were:
Peyton Manning, Super Bowl XLI Most Valuable
Gene Simmons, singer (KISS)
Aimee Garcia, actress
Alison Sweeney, actress, Days of Our Lives
Apolo Anton Ohno, Dancing with the Stars winner
Carlos Diaz, Extra correspondent
Commodores, Grammy Award Winning Group
Donald Lipski, artist
General Chuck Yeager, first human to fly faster than the speed of sound
Jaslene Gonzalez, America's Next Top Model Winner
Jesse Metcalfe, actor
John Oates, singer
Ludacris, rapper
Melissa Rivers, Red Carpet Co-host
Pat O'Brien, television host
Patrick Dempsey, actor
Ray Liotta, actor Goodfellas
