By Jackie Gorski
Times-Union
WARSAW — The Warsaw Salutes You Military Banners recognition program is accepting applications for the seventh cycle of banners, which will be displayed in November for Veterans Day.
Applications and payments of $65 are due no later than Oct. 1. People can go to the Warsaw Salutes You Facebook page to request an application, as well as see previous banners, said Megan Stone, who is continuing the program after her daughter, Elizabeth, went to college.
Elizabeth started the program as a Kosciusko Youth Leadership Academy project in 2020 during her junior year at Warsaw Community High School to honor her brother, U.S. Navy Lt. Nate Stone, who was serving on the USS California.
The banners will be installed by Veterans Day, said Miechi Petro, Elizabeth’s KYLA mentor.
Stone said 25 banners will be featured along East Market Street for a year. The banners will be returned back to the families afterward.
To qualify, honorees must be former or current residents of the greater Warsaw area and must be serving or have served in the United States Navy, Army, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard or National Guard.
The banners will display the service person’s photograph, full name and branch of the military.
So far, 125 veterans have been honored, Stone said. Previous honorees include Civil War Gen. Reuben Williams and Mark Skibowski, who retired as a captain from the Air Force.
They include those who have served in World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, the Persian Gulf War and the Global War on Terrorism.
The program continues to be well received, Petro said.
Stone said she and Petro feel they have an invested interest in the program as military moms and because of the sense of building community and there are patriots within the Warsaw community.
