Riderless horse marks Memorial Day ceremonies in North Huntingdon

For the past two years, Memorial Day ceremonies at the Penn Lincoln Memorial Park in North Huntingdon have included a “riderless horse,” with military boots facing backward in the bootstraps, a tribute to soldiers lost over the years.

One of those soldiers was Army Signal Corps member Daniel Tomko, who served in Vietnam and died of complications from the effects of exposure to Agent Orange. Tomko’s sister, Cheryl Fox of White Oak, owns Bear, the 28-year-old “riderless” quarterhorse, and has been bringing him to parades and military ceremonies since 2011.

“We do the parade in White Oak, events at Renzi Park, that type of thing,” said Fox’s husband Jerry. “We brought Bear when they did the Vietnam Wall exhibit in McKeesport.”

Fox said it is the least she can do to honor the memory of her brother and other veterans.

“This means more than anything,” she said. “We started this because of my brother. But we tend to carry it on because of all the soldiers. The very first parade we were in, there was this older man who was so skinny, and he got up out of his chair and saluted Bear. I ended up crying through the whole parade, and I still do.”