Off-duty Army radar operator Richard Schimmel watches as Japanese planes bomb Pearl Harbor before reporting to the information center he was stationed at on Oahu on Dec. 7, 1941.

A few years later, Pershing tank gunner Clarence Smoyer takes aim at his German counterpart firing from a Panther tank while battling for control of Cologne, Germany, on March 6, 1945.

Although 75 years have passed since the end of World War II, the memories of their service, Shimmel’s while in the Army Air Corps and Smoyer’s while serving in the Army Armored Division, are still fresh.

Schimmel and Smoyer, seated with United States veterans who honorably served during World War II and other conflicts, were recognized during the “Americans We: Tribute to Veterans Concert.”

Because of coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic protocol, the Allentown Band could not present the annual concert in Miller Symphony Hall, Allentown. Instead, it was presented Oct. 4 at the home of Joan Miller Moran and Williams J. Fenza, Lehigh Parkway North, Salisbury Township.

Moran and Fenza were hosts of the Allentown Band “Sousa on the Parkway” Sept. 13 concert. Fenza, who attended both concerts, died Oct. 18.

The concert, commemorating the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II, was presented by the Lehigh Valley Veterans History Project.

The Allentown Band, led by Conductor Ronald Demkee, performed patriotic tunes while in full dress uniform to an audience seated on lawn chairs safely distanced across the yard.

“Americans We” by Henry Fillmore, “Saint Louis Blues March” by W.C. Handy and Jerry Gray, “America the Beautiful” by Carmen Dragon, and John Phillip Sousa’s “Stripes and Stripes Forever” filled the sunny afternoon air.

Among the speakers who paid tribute to the veterans were Mike Sewards, Chairman-Founder-Historian, Lehigh Valley Veterans History Project; Lehigh County Executive Phillips Armstrong, and Major General Gerald Still, USAF-R.

Still, who was also recognized, is president of the Lehigh Valley Military Affairs Council and curator and tour guide at the Liberty Bell Museum, Allentown.

“I am a veteran of the American Revolution.” quipped Still.

Other veterans at the concert who were honored were Dave Binder, Navy; Paul Breitfield, Army; Jeff Capwell, Air Force; Matt Gutman, Navy; Edward Kozelnicky, Air Force; Charles Kukodo, Army; Bob Pearce, Navy; Richard Schermerhorn, Army, and Bert Winzer, Army.

Former members and those now serving in the U.S. military in attendance were urged by Demkee to stand up and be recognized as the band performed “Armed Services Salute,” a medley of anthems from each military branch.

According to Sewards, the Lehigh Valley Military Affairs Council strives to collect, document and preserve the personal experiences of United States wartime veterans, as well as home-front workers and volunteers who supported war efforts.

Lehigh Valley Military Affairs Council information: http://www.lv-mac.org/