Cherokee District and the Chattanooga Regents Council DAR members
The Chickamauga Chapter DAR members
Nancy Ward Chapter DAR members
Judge David Campbell Chapter DAR members
Moccasin Bend Chapter DAR members
From left, BCBM McMahon, OIC of the Coast Guard Station, CDR Joey Tanner, CO of NOSC Chattanooga; Regent Stacy Kehoe CAPT Sansbury, USMC Commanding Officer; and General Franklin representing the Air Force from Nashville
With a rainbow arching across the sky, local members of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution lined up convertibles to honor selected World War II veterans for the 70th Annual Armed Forces Day Parade on Friday. Each of the five Daughters of the American Revolution chapters and the Chattanooga Area Regents Council, NSDAR, had an individual car. These cars held a WWII veteran and a chapter representative. The cars processed by order of the date the chapter was formed.
Representing Cherokee District and the Chattanooga Regents Council, Teresa Webb Rimer, director of the District, and Lee Parham, chairman of the Regents Council, waved flags to show their patriotic pride as they lead the DAR procession in the parade.
The Chickamauga Chapter, organized in October 1894, is the oldest DAR chapter in the region and Joye Duke serves as regent. She was accompanied by Susan Harris, Chapter chair, DAR Service to Veterans and other members included Anne Swafford, Lee Parham, and Sue Threadgill. The Chickamauga Chapter’s honored guest was World War II veteran Sam Stansell of Ooltewah. Mr. Stansell was a senior at Red Bank High when Pearl Harbor was attacked. He dropped out of school, joined the U. S. Navy and served in the Pacific Theater in the engine room of the USS Saratoga. He saw action at Guadalcanal, the Solomon, Gilberts and Marshalls Islands and the Battle of Iwo Jima. One of his happiest moments occurred last year when Red Bank High School awarded him his high school diploma.
In the third car, The Nancy Ward Chapter, named for the Beloved Woman of the Cherokee Nation, was organized in March 1915 and Natalie Blackwell serves as regent. Captain Cate Mueller, USN (Ret) and Chapter National Defense chairman drove the car for the Nancy Ward Chapter. Also, from Nancy Ward and riding in back were Nancy Newsome Henderson and Mary Aleta Word. This vehicle held their honored World War II veteran, Ralph Painter. Mr. Painter, originally from Polk County, was assigned to the Armored Artillery and was in the first tank to roll off a landing craft and onto Utah Beach on June 6, 1944. He would continue in combat for 335 straight days at St. Lo, the Ardennes Forest, across France and finally rolling into Berlin. “So many friends died during that fight across Europe, but we kept going," said Mr. Painter. "We had to defeat the Germans.” Mr. Painter proudly wore his Bronze Star and the French Legion of Honor Award.
In the fourth car, the Judge David Campbell Chapter was organized in the fall of 1915 and Stacy Kehoe serves as regent. Since Ms. Kehoe is a member of the Armed Forces Day Committee, Lt. Colonel Susan Lindsey, USAF (Ret) and first vice regent and her veteran husband Michael drove this vehicle. Joining them was their World War II veteran, George Whisner. Mr. Whisner served in the US Army Air Forces as an aircraft mechanic and crash truck driver at Natal, Brazil. Natal was one of the bases used by the Allies to ferry aircraft across the Atlantic to Europe as aerial refuelers did not exist in those days. Mr. Whisner is happy to report he never lost a man while on duty. In his off-duty time, Mr. Whisner helped the local missionaries and was a source of help in times of trouble for his fellow GIs. For 60 years, Mr. Whisner served as a missionary to villages across Brazil. Accompanying Mr. Whisner was his daughter Martha Hostetter.
Chief John Ross Regent was the fourth chapter organized in Chattanooga in December 1922. Jessica Dumitru drove their WWII veteran, Howard Vernon. Mr. Vernon is the father and grandfather of Chief John Ross members, Sheri Conlon and Laura Dahlke, and served his nation as a member of the 304 Signal Battalion, 8th Army in the Pacific, culminating in service during postwar in Yokohama, Japan.
The final car was the Moccasin Bend Chapter, the youngest DAR chapter in Chattanooga. It was organized in November 1953. Its members have been serving the community for over 60 years. Regent Pamela Randolph held the DAR banner and walked the parade while Tina Staton, second vice regent, drove the vehicle accompanying their honored World War II veteran, Jay Mcfalls. While Mr. Mcfalls served in the U. S. Army during World War II, he often credits the women during World War II as the real heroes, saying, “They took care of everything while we were gone.” He is speaking specifically about his beloved wife, Vivian, who passed in 2014. In the years since, Mr. Mcfalls visits her every day at her Chattanooga National Cemetery gravesite and can be found every Friday, playing his guitar and singing to the veterans at the Chattanooga VA clinic.