Winter Park vets saluted

Sixty-two veterans and widows of the fallen were honored during Memorial Day weekend by Cornerstone Salutes!, a unique program of recognition for veterans and widows of the fallen spearheaded by nonprofit Cornerstone Hospice. Cornerstone Salutes! aims to recognize thousands of faceless and largely forgotten aging warriors of the United States armed forces who sacrificed not merely a portion of their youth, but one and two decades of their life in many cases. “The Salutes! honored 24 living veterans and 38 widows of fallen warriors residing at Westchester of Winter Park assisted living residence, a nonprofit senior residential facility,” said Cindi Harris-Panning, registered nurse and executive director for Cornerstone Hospice’ Orange and Osceola region.

Among the veterans honored this weekend was U.S. Air Corps and WASP (Women Air Force Service Pilots) veteran Patricia Chadwick Erickson, 92. She is a survivor of one of an elite group of 1,074 female pilots enlisted into service and allowed to fly military aircraft for the first time in American history during 1942-1944. These intrepid WASP “Fly Girls” flew 60 million miles on every type of military aircraft, from the fastest fighters to the heaviest superfortress-class bombers B-17s, B-24s, B-26’s, B-29s and the PBY OA-10A three-engine watercrafts, on every type of mission flown by their male Air Force counterparts.

These Cornerstone Salutes! are funded through the Cornerstone Hospice Foundation, and anyone wishing to make a contribution may visit CornerstoneHospice.org or call 888-728-6234.

Veterans and veterans’ widows honored:

Edith Grant

Lois Thayer

Virginia Gunstone

Helen McGuinness

Virginia Siddaway

Ethel Studstill

Robert Wright

Caroline King

Clarence Hodges

Russell Smith

George Bernards

Hildreth Stone

Mildred George

Norman Taylor

Claudia Guida

Eugene Slegel

Maria Hopwood

John Strykul

Adolph Hess

Julia McCall

Patricia Erickson

Florence Long

Grace Heddens

Dorothy Deamud

Donald Salvetti

Gertrude Owens

Mary Ellen Peters

Sylvia Stone

Ana Schirazzo

Frances McFarland

Cheryl Smith

Lucille Johnson

John Reedy

Winfred Brown

Mary Gribben

Wells Bardwell

Elizabeth Ross

Harriet Murphy

Louise Stanley

Fay Radosevich

Dorothy Davis

Albert Newell

Walter Carmack

Gaylord Cadden

Bernice Needham

Gretchen Johnson

Charlie Fresko

Lorraine Evans

Robert Gilbo

Jewell Hayes

Richard Irwin

Jeanne Slovenkay

Frances Dimaro

Naomi Hamm

Donald Covell

Mary Cobb

Isadore Hirsberg

Ruth White

Mye Trumbore

Lonnie Barnett

Michael Acevedo

Gary Koski

Jane Burkhart