Wantagh pipe band honors Baldwin ‘hometown hero’

To mark Memorial Day, World War II veteran Edward Olvera, a Baldwin resident, was honored for his service to the country outside his home on May 25.

John Stone, of the Wantagh American Legion Pipe Band, made arrangements with Anne Egal, Olvera’s assistant and friend, to organize a hometown hero parade, friends told the Herald.

At 10:30 a.m., a few members from the pipe band marched to 97-year-old Olvera’s yard and performed traditional songs. The parade began at the Long Island Rail Road parking lot on Sunrise Highway and led to Olvera’s home on Milburn Avenue.

Friends said Olvera is a sweet man who helps many people with his generous heart and kind words. He made a speech on his front porch at the intimate hometown hero ceremony.

In his early days, Olvera left high school and enlisted in the U.S. Army three weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 20, 1941. Friends said he served in an antiaircraft, 683rd AA unit in Burma, and he shot down a Japanese Zero plane.

Olvera came home in 1945.