SMETHPORT – The residents of Hazel Hurst will honor one of their
own – U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Jamie Himes Dana, who was seriously
injured in Iraq earlier this year – with a parade Saturday at 11
a.m. in the village.
Dana is now home on a 30-day leave and continuing her
rehabilitation in Bradford.
“Jamie grew up here, and I thought we should celebrate the fact
that she is alive and doing well,” said Nina Nogar, parade
organizer, who also used to babysit Dana.
“We wanted to show her that we support her 100 percent, and this
will be her day.”
Dana, 26, was injured in June when the vehicle in which she was
riding, passed over a roadside bomb near Kirkuk. At that time, she
was working as a dog handler-kennel master with a bomb-sniffing K-9
unit. Her injuries included a broken pelvis, injured spleen, which
was later removed, as well as other internal injuries.
She was hospitalized at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in
Germany prior to being transferred to the Walter Reed Army Medical
Center in Washington, where she received her Purple Heart during a
ceremony in her hospital room.
Among her visitors at Walter Reed were Vice President Dick
Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.
Now, she will be lauded by people closer to home with many
activities on tap.
A military firing squad will offer a rifle salute prior to the
start of the parade.
The parade will form at the west end of town, or the side nearer
to Mount Jewett. Veterans from Mount Jewett will lead the line of
march.
Dana and her family will ride on a wagon along with Rex, the dog
that was with her in Iraq. Her grandparents will ride in
automobiles.
Also participating will be veterans from Smethport, Crosby, and
the Kane Armory of the Pennsylvania National Guard, according to
Nogar, who is also the Hazel Hurst postmaster.
Other parade units will include the Mount Jewett-ettes, Girl
Scouts, Red Hat Society Dames of Kane, Swedish Festival queen, Miss
McKean County, Pennsylvania State Police, Zem Zem Roadrunners, fire
trucks from Hamlin Township, Hilltop, Clermont, Mount Jewett, and
Smethport, a float from the United Methodist Church, and high
school bands from Bradford and Smethport, and Lois
Kreitzer-Housler’s animals.
Barry Morgan of radio station WLMI in Kane will provide live
coverage of the parade.
Nogar said, “It seems that we will have more people in the
parade that there are in town, but Hazel Hurst will welcome all
people with open arms.”
After the parade, a reception will be held at the Hamlin
Township Volunteer Fire Department with music provided by Louella
and Wayne Buchanan’s band, “Hobos.”
Fellow employees at American Refining Group in Bradford, where
Dana’s father, Randy works, will sell hot dogs. Other volunteers
will donate light refreshments.
Shirley Howard has crafted a red, white, and blue quilt that
also features white squares which contain many signatures of Hazel
Hurst and Mount Jewett residents, and this will be presented to
Dana.
