World War II veterans return to Louisville after participating in Pearl Harbor anniversary

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - Two local veterans were welcomed home after traveling to Hawaii to participate in the 80th anniversary of the Attack on Pearl Harbor ceremony.

97-year-old WWII Marine veteran Stanley Parnell, from Louisville, wanted to take part and be with fellow veterans in Hawaii on the anniversary on Dec. 7.

“I’ve been wanting to go to this place for quite a while,” Parnell said. “I’ve been there in ‘75, Pearl Harbor, and I got to go back.”

Parnell took his three kids along for the trip.

He also traveled along with Elizabethtown veteran Charles O’Bryan along to Pearl Harbor. O’Bryan said he enlisted after both of his brothers died in the Attack on Pearl Harbor.

“The Pearl Harbor area, and all of the area, Honolulu, has grown leaps and bounds since Pearl Harbor, since I went there the first time,” O’Bryan said. “It’s really blossomed. It’s really grown.”

The two men were able to take the trip with the assistance of Honor Flight Bluegrass, a non-profit organization created to help veterans visit memorials across the United States.