Parade Evokes Memories for Korean Vet

SPRING HILL - The hot morning didn't stop hundreds of people from showing up Friday at High Point for that community's annual Fourth of July parade.
There was the usual assortment of floats, walkers and politicians. And there were the scores of people in chairs strategically placed along High Point Boulevard to watch the action.
Situated toward the front of the parade route, sat a man in a black Honda motor scooter. He was by himself, surveying the activities. He had a tiny American flag on the front of his scooter and a light-up flag pin draped across his shirt.
In his lightly shaded glasses, he was somewhat inconspicuous and most people would have probably passed by without noticing him.
But he noticed them.
That's my job," Lyle Adleman said. "I'm a watcher."
Adleman, 75, explained he was a member of the two-person High Point rules and enforcement committee. It's his job to make sure people abide by the community's deed restrictions. He makes sure people's grass is mowed or that cars are parked where they need to be.
Most of the times he can be seen tooling around on his scooter because "that's the easiest way to get around in here," he jokes.
On this bright, sunny festive morning, Adleman's job took on added significance. He watched to make sure parade participants were in the right spot and offered help to spectators who might have had questions about the route.
Adleman, a native of northern Wisconsin who moved to High Point over 10 years ago, beamed with pride as the horses pranced by and the kids tried to catch candy or beads thrown out by parade walkers or float workers.
"This looks like it has the makings of probably the biggest and best parade this place has ever had," Adleman said. "It's great. They really outdid themselves this year."
'Proud Defender'
But while Adleman may be known at High Point for his work making sure the streets and houses stay clear of debris and that people are towing the line, there may be one side of him that residents don't see.
Adleman is super patriotic.
"When I see the Stars and Stripes go by, I just get tears in my eyes," he says.
Get him talking about patriotism, the war in Iraq or his love for country and Adleman will likely make anyone rush out to buy an American flag and actually wave it.
"I'm a patriotic defender of this country," says this war veteran and member of the Hernando Beach VFW.
Adleman served in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War from 1952-1956 and said he flew in 23 combat missions. His was a spy plane.
"I loved it," he said.
Back then, pilots relied on radar and their own wits, he said. They took shelter in foxholes and engaged the enemy up close.
Not like today, when wars have become so high-tech that the soldier doesn't even have to get within spitting distance of the enemy, he said, referring to the Iraq war. They even have global positioning systems (GPS), he said.
"We didn't even know what a GPS was," he joked.
"Today, things are just different," he says. "War is being fought different."
Adleman believes President Bush went into Iraq with the best interests, believing there were weapons of mass destruction there that could have posed a national threat.
Five years later, with the WMD reasoning exploded and the war dragging on, he wishes fervently that the troops could come home. But he worries that the war is so far advanced it may not be that easy.
"I don't know how they can walk out of there and save face," he says.
'It Was Cool'
Five minutes until the parade officially starts, Adleman takes off down one of the side streets off High Point Boulevard in his scooter to alert the walkers and float organizers the parade is about to begin.
Adleman hopes community parades such as High Point help rekindle the patriotic fervor that seems to be lost on many.
"I think the patriotic people today are the veterans," he says.
He was gladdened to see so many youngsters lining the streets and seeing the American flag and other symbols of national pride.
"This parade is a show of patriotism," Adleman says. "It's great. You can't help but get caught up in it."
And on this day, hundreds of people seemed to be doing just that.
Kids jockeyed for the best spots to catch pieces of hard candy thrown from parade watchers. People of all ages waved at the men and women on horseback or the woman dressed up as Betsy Ross.
Of course, several people running for county office walked the route hoping to shake a hand and gather a vote or two.
Jessica Hall and her 16-year-old daughter Tina said they moved to Spring Hill eight months ago from Fort Lauderdale where such community parades are rare.
They definitely plan a return trip next year.
"It was cool," Tina said as she and her mom headed back to the car to enjoy the rest of the holiday.