A Hometown Heroes banner is displayed on a light pole in Edwardsville, Ill., similar to ones that will line the streets of Sykesville, Md., later this year. Downtown Sykesville Connection is working to produce 20 banners at a $5,000 cost. (Downtown Sykesville Connection/Facebook)
(Tribune News Service) — Buck Warfield of Sykesville, Md., hopes to soon see a banner honoring his father, Sam Warfield, as a Hometown Hero, displayed along Main Street.
Warfield recently submitted an application to the Downtown Sykesville Partnership to honor his father, an Army veteran of World War II and the Korean War. He hopes his father will be among the 20 local active-duty military or veterans to be chosen for banners that will be on display from Labor Day through Veterans Day on Main Street.
Applications to nominate someone to be displayed on a "Hometown Hero" banner are open through July 12.
Applicants must provide proof of military service and submit a picture of the honoree in a military uniform. There is no cost to the applicant and no reservations of a specific location where the banner will be mounted. Applications will be reviewed and considered for approval on a first-come, first-served basis.
Downtown Sykesville Connection will have 20 banners created at a cost of about $5,000. Half of the cost of the 2-foot-by-3-foot banners will be paid for by the DSC, and the other half will come from a Carroll Arts Council grant. DSC Executive Director Julie Della-Maria said the design committee will finalize specifications and the banners will be created by Shannon-Baum Signs in Eldersburg, Md.
"It's something that will look fantastic in a small and charming historic town," Della-Maria said. "In my opinion, it's also a demonstration of our commitment to diversity, because we want to create a space for everyone to be able to express themselves or to have a venue for everyone to feel like they're empowered in recognizing their loved one."
The idea of installing the banners was conceived in 2019, but Della-Maria said the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic forced the DSC to pivot into supporting the town's business community as much as possible. The banner idea was revisited last year, and a grant to help create the banners was fully funded by the Carroll County Arts Council in February.
Sam Warfield joined the U.S. Army in January 1945 and was deployed to the Philippines, where he was assigned to provide logistics for equipment and supplies. Buck Warfield said his father's assignment is a funny story — combat and combat-adjacent roles were assigned to his group in last-name alphabetical order, and positions of perceived importance were gone by the time they got to Warfield.
"It's not for me, it's for the town and for the people around here," Buck Warfield said. "It's to give some recognition — not only to World War II and Korean veterans — but to Vietnam veterans and all the guys that served. I think they deserve some recognition all the way around. I think it's a good idea."
Sam Warfield died in 2017, one day shy of his 91st birthday.
"I think he kind of downplayed his own importance when in fact he was just as important as anybody else in my opinion," Buck Warfield said. "I mean, that was a job somebody had to do."
After Japan's surrender in August 1945, Sam Warfield was assigned to Osaka, Japan, where he helped to stabilize and secure the country in the wake of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Buck Warfield said.
Sam Warfield reenlisted in the Army after World War II and coordinated equipment in Korea during the Korean War, his son said, and he was honorably discharged in 1953 as a first sergeant.
After retiring from the Army, Sam Warfield acquired Rocky Meadows Farm in Sykesville, a dairy operation. Buck Warfield said he was inspired by his father's service and became a Maryland State Trooper at the Westminster Barrack in 1970. He retired in 1993 and now lives on Rocky Meadows Farm.
"Kids today just don't realize what it was like for my dad's generation and how important (World War II) was," Buck Warfield said. "I think the banners will do a lot to maybe change some minds. I think kids today don't really appreciate military service for what it is, and I think the recognition would be good for all."
(c)2023 the Carroll County Times (Westminster, Md.)
Visit carrollcountytimes.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
