Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, November 12, 1995 TAG: 9511130054
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: D-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Cecile Whitener wheeled her husband past the mob gathered in the lobby of the Virginia Veterans Care Center so he could get a better view.
William E. Whitener, a 95-year-old World War I veteran and resident of the center, was having a hard time seeing past the crowd of political figures and other guests as they dedicated a memorial to Alice Burton Fielden, the center's first female resident, who also was a close friend of the couple's.
William Whitener is one of the center's last World War I veterans. He entered the war at age 16 as a Navy crew member aboard the USS Florida.
Fielden, a World War I veteran who died in February at age 95 after living at the center for nearly three years, now has a marble plaque in her honor hanging a the second-floor lobby.
During the ceremony, friends recalled her witty, vibrant personality.
Cecile Whitener said Fielden's arrival at the center brought a sudden change to the atmosphere there.
"She made it a more cheerful place," Whitener said. "She held so much history."
"She loved this place and loved the people," said Fielden's daughter, Pat Coyne. "She had an interest in everyone's welfare."
Sen. John Warner also paid the center's veterans a visit Saturday. The former secretary of the Navy donned a military cap while talking with residents.
He toured the facility along with Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Roanoke, and addressed the veterans.
The ceremony was only one of a number of Veterans Day activities at the care center and elsewhere in the Roanoke Valley on Saturday.
In downtown Salem, a parade in honor of veterans was canceled. But the rain and heavy winds didn't keep dozens of veterans from gathering at St. Paul's Episcopal Church.
During a ceremony there, veterans representing all five branches of the armed forces stood on a platform while a color guard marched across the floor.
The Virginia Highlands Pipes and Drums corps played "Amazing Grace," bringing tears to the eyes of some veterans.
The church setting mixed well with the patriotic overtones as retired Army Gen. William B. Rosson suggested that Veterans Day be used as a tool to revitalize what he called a public demise of patriotism.
He said youth, in particular, ``need to be educated with respect for patriotism."
The retired general, who lives in Salem, said he hoped the parade and ceremony could become an annual Roanoke Valley event.
by CNB