The Battle Cross Crusaders program from Clinton will be organizing its 11th World War II veterans Drive By Honor Parade to honor Green Valley US Army WWII veteran Richard Lohnes for his 106th birthday on Sunday, May 5 at 3 pm at the Green Valley Fire Department.
Lohnes served as the Green Valley Fire Chief for 26 years and was a volunteer fireman for 32 years as well.
After the honor parade, everyone is invited back to the firehouse and Lohnes will be presented the Quilt of Valor, and a patriotic mural signed by all participants immediately after the honor parade, among a few other gifts from Battle Cross Crusaders.
They are also working with Operation Song, a patriotic group of Nashville songwriters to have a free song written to Lohnes service which will be played after the Honor Parade and all parade participants are invited to hear it for the first time with him.
T/S Dick Lohnes served in North Africa, as a member of the 756th Tank Battalion that liberated Casablanca in November 1942.
The 756th, an independent light tank battalion, was assigned to different commands but for most of the war was attached to the 3rd Infantry Division.
From Casablanca, they went into Italy after landing at Salerno and were with the first Allied unit to arrive at Monte Casino, and participated in all phases of the drive on to Rome.
Then followed an amphibious assault on the south coast of France on August 15, 1944.
They pushed north through France along the Rhine Valley, reaching Strasbourg on November 26. The battalion experienced heavy fighting early in '45 in the Colmar Pocket, then crossed the Rhine into southern Germany in a successful seizure of the German Siegfried Line.
Followed by the capture of Nuremberg, Munich, and Hitler's personal retreat The Berchtesgaden.
Lohnes's unit was preparing to go into Salzburg, Austria, when the war in Europe ended on May 8, 1945 (V-E Day).
From Casablanca to Salzburg the 756th had traveled approximately 5,000 miles, and from October '44 to May '45 was almost continuously engaged in combat, except for one ten-day period in Italy when it was relieved after suffering heavy casualties.