A booming blast from the past helped honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice, and served as a symbol of the launch of the area’s Memorial Day weekend celebration.
Four gleaming U.S. Army National Guard howitzers in the middle of Second Street helped the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic’s 18th annual Salute concert sound an emphatically patriotic note Friday evening on the sun-splashed lawn of the Bartholomew County Memorial For Veterans in downtown Columbus.
Capt. Curtis Gummer and his team practiced firing smokey rounds before the concert in anticipation of firing at just the right segment of “The 1812 Overture” by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, a flag-waving staple of the yearly, free event that attracts an estimated 2,000 people, including large groups of veterans and their friends and families.
“These (weapons) are a way to honor someone at something like a ceremonial funeral for a senior-ranking official,” Gummer said before the concert. “These let people know we are recognizing others. They are a simple way of announcing that.”
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Even during a practice firing well before the show, the cannons drew substantial applause from what appeared to be one of the largest crowds of the past few years with temperatures in the mid-80s.
Anderson resident and Korean War veteran Warren Carman, who served in the Army, sat at the corner of Second and Washington streets eating a box lunch an hour before the music began at his first Salute concert. He admitted to being impressed with such a large, well-attended honoring of veterans in a small town.
“This is really great,” he said. “Some places these days don’t do much of anything (for veterans).”
Anderson singer Rick Vale, making his third appearance at Salute, presented a broad range of tunes, including selections from World War I such as “It’s a Long Way to Tipperary,” a tune his own grandfather, a veteran of that conflict, often whistled.
Columbus Mayor Jim Lienhoop offered his own honor to those who have served in brief remarks from the stage.
“It’s because of you that we continue to enjoy the freedoms we have today,” Lienhoop said.
Audience member Bob Porter brought 20 family members and friends to the gathering.
“This is always very moving and very stirring,” Porter said.
Though much of the event struck a festive chord, a somber tone also marked part of the evening. The Philharmonic included a special flag-folding ceremony dedicated to U.S. Army Sgt. Jonathon M. Hunter. The Columbus native was killed in action while serving his country last year in Afghanistan.
Columbus resident and retired U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen Mark Pillar presented an American flag, after a special flag-folding ceremony, to Mark Hunter, the soldier’s father.
The Philharmonic also saluted Harry McCawley, the late associate editor and columnist of The Republic and the man who started the Salute tradition in 2000. During a second flag-folding ceremony, Harry’s son, Indiana State Police Trooper Chris McCawley presented a flag Julie McCawley, his mother and Harry’s widow. One audience member mentioned just before the program began that the night “wouldn’t quite seem the same without Harry.”
Pillar himself, a fixture at Salute concerts for years coordinating military and related elements of the evening, became another honoree when Philharmonic leaders surprised him and presented him with its highest volunteer and support honor known as the Gold Baton Award. Through the years, Pillar has served the orchestra in multiple roles, from board president to development director.
But David Bowden, the Philharmonic’s longtime music director, highlighted the concert as Pillar’s special way to shine.
“I think some of Mark’s most significant contributions to the Philharmonic are through this concert,” Bowden said.
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The military was more than a career for U.S. Army Sgt. Jonathon M. Hunter. It was a way of life he loved.
The 2011 Columbus East High School graduate served with the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
He joined the Army on April 8, 2014. Hunter quickly rose in the ranks, and earned his Expert Infantryman Badge.
Hunter was deployed to Afghanistan on July 1, 2017 — his first deployment. His role was to provide security.
About a month later, on Aug. 2, Hunter was one of two American soldiers killed during a suicide bombing attack on a NATO convoy near Kandahar.
Hunter, was 23, the son of Mark Hunter, and Kimberly and Brian Thompson, and husband of Whitney Michelle Hunter.
His body was flown from Dover (Delaware) Air Force Base to Columbus Municipal Airport. Thousands of people paid respects by lining city streets for the motorcade procession carrying Hunter’s remains, and attending a public funeral visitation at East High School.
His name is on the Bartholomew County Memorial for Veterans.
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Harry McCawley was the longtime Republic columnist and county historian. He also was the driving force in the creation of both the Salute concert and the Bartholomew County Memorial for Veterans.
The cause and memory of veterans was near and dear to his heart. McCawley served in the Kentucky and Indiana Army National Guards from 1962 to 1968. The death of his brother in World War II sparked McCawley’s involvement in the Bartholomew County Memorial for Veterans project.
McCawley served on the committee that developed the concept, raised money and oversaw construction of the memorial, which was completed in 1997. He chose and edited excerpts of letters that appear on its columns, and was on a committee that helped select names of those who met requirements to be listed.
The free Memorial Day weekend Salute concert launched in 2000 after he pitched to the idea to Alice Curry and David Bowden of the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic.
McCawley also got The Republic’s annual special section in honor of veterans, also named Salute, up and running in 2007, and played a key role in its publication for years afterward. The most recent edition published Thursday.
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