LAKEWOOD, Ohio — Long before the USS Cleveland appeared on the horizon Saturday morning, the Solstice Steps at Lakewood Park were packed.
Veterans in Navy hats sat in lawn chairs, shoulder-to-shoulder with active-duty service members. Parents kept an eye on toddlers running around as other children waved American flags along the shoreline, scanning Lake Erie for a glimpse of the first-ever Navy warship commissioned in the Buckeye State.
Navy veteran Dennis Massimiani, with his 6-year-old great niece, wanted to make sure he didn’t miss out on the unprecedented moment: “When would you ever see a Navy ship on Lake Erie? You don’t.”…