The sun glistened off the golden hair of a toddler bent at the waist.

He was working hard to pick up the fruits of his patience on Catawissa Street in Nesquehoning.

After all, he’d been waiting as four divisions of everyday local folks passed by, marching in an annual Carbon County parade on Sunday.

Hardtack candy, bubble gum and other sweet treats paraders tossed made their way from his tiny hands into tiny pockets.

They fueled some squeals of joy, and a smile you could drive a tank through.

It was a perfect, warm fall afternoon as high school marching bands, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts and Little Leaguers joined poppy queens, fair queens, first responders, police, politicos and Tin Lizzies to celebrate.

Americana, it was, at its best.

And it was all to offer a hardy thank you to a special group of people who made it all possible.

Veterans. The local men and women who’ve served our nation’s military over the years.

These days, all of the soldiers originally intended for the honors exist only in old photos and family histories.

That’s because then-President Woodrow Wilson declared that Nov. 11, 1918 - 105 years ago - would be Armistice Day to celebrate the efforts and sacrifice of those who fought in what came to be known as “The Great War.” We know it today as World War I.

Though a treaty finally ended the war in June 1919, the armistice required that all fighting stop on the “11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month” in the previous year.

The “Dough Boys” returned to home soil and opened an era some call “The Roaring 20s.”

But the “War to End All Wars” didn’t live up to its name.

When Germany - which surrendered to end the Great War - started stirring things up in Europe and cakewalked across Poland in 1939, the men and women of what former NBC news anchor and author Tom Brokaw dubbed “The Greatest Generation” started getting the call.

Draft boards got busier, enlistment lists enlarged and when the Empire of Japan attacked the U.S. Navy at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, then-president Franklin Delano Roosevelt on Dec. 7, 1941 - the “day that will live in infamy” - pulled the trigger that set into motion probably the greatest war machine assembled up to that time.

Soldiers in Europe and North Africa and in farther away places with names like Guadalcanal, Burma and Iwo Jima carried the rest of the world to victory.

Unfortunately, as we began 2023, fewer than 1% of those who served are still with us. Last month, Carbon County lost one of its most beloved World War II veterans, Cornelius “Connie” McHugh of Lehighton, who was 101.

So it is with those who responded to the call in Korea, and then in Vietnam, where many members of the military are still with us but the numbers are against them.

Since then, the call has come for service in places too many to mention. Cambodia, Laos, Libya, Syria, the Persian Gulf, Iraq, Afghanistan ... the list goes on and on.

And each time, a veteran played some part in the outcome.

For many who returned, the ravages of war are haunting ... disabling. They left their homes whole, but came back with scars - ones we can see and ones we can’t - that changed their lives forever.

As we honor their efforts, we have an obligation to do what we can to help.

That work has begun in earnest.

Earlier this week, the Veterans Hub of Northeastern Pennsylvania celebrated its first anniversary on the Lehighton Campus of St. Luke’s University Health Network.

The facility, established through the combined efforts of local, state and federal officials, offers social work and counseling services to veterans from the county and surrounding areas.

Throughout the county this week, there were events and activities sponsored by local veterans groups and their support organizations to celebrate the efforts of their comrades. There were meals, programs and special services paid homage to their service.

Each of the veterans who served in their own way did their part to make life better for themselves and others.

If you’d ask any one of them about their time in the military they’d be happy to share their stories.

Some may be happy to talk about their service Others may not.

Some may smile and say it was worth it.

All they ask is that we smile back.

Like that little guy did on Sunday.

ED SOCHA/TNEDITOR@TNONLINE.COM

Ed Socha is a retired newspaper editor with more than 40 years experience in community journalism. Reach him at tneditor@tnonline.com.

The foregoing opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board or Times News LLC.