Col. Peter Green, commander of the Maintenance Group of the 104th Fighter Wing, was the keynote speaker at the Southwick Veterans Day ceremony yesterday. (Photo by Hope E. Tremblay)
SOUTHWICK – The town of Southwick honored its veterans yesterday with a parade and solemn ceremony at the War Memorial.
Organized by the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 872 with assistance from the American Legion Post 338, the ceremony featured an address from 104th Fighter Winger Maintenance Group Commander Col. Peter Green who recalled that Veterans Day began as Armistice Day, a celebration of the end of World War I.
“What was once a celebration is now a remembrance,” he said. “We don’t mark this day as a celebration of victory, but rather of those who made victory possible.”
Green said veterans are people who believed and fought for an ideal held in higher regard than their personal beliefs.
“They chose to serve a cause greater than self,” he said.
Green said today’s military includes many reservists who are “more than ready” and are more “relevant than ever before.”
Westfield veterans organizations and city officials gathered at the conclusion of a parade hosted by the American Legion Post 454 at Parker Memorial Park. Here, a veteran places a wreath as part of a memorial ceremony. (Photo by Frederick Gore)
“Our veterans represent the very best of America,” said Green.
Select Board Chairman Russell Fox thanked all who have served in the military and those who serve today. Fox read a proclamation declaring Southwick a Purple Heart Town that will annually recognize Aug. 7 as Purple Heart Day.
Rev. Bart Cochran of Southwick United Congregational Church honored veterans with opening and closing remarks.
“They are worthy men and women who gave their best when called upon to serve their country,” Cochran said of veterans. “We respect them, we thank them, we honor them, and we are proud of them,” he said.
The ceremony included the presentation of colors, laying of wreaths by the Gold Star Mothers, and selections from the Southwick-Tolland-Granville Regional High School band. Boy and Girl Scouts, town officials, police and fire participated in the parade, along with veterans.
Glenda Schuster, right, of the Barnes 104th Fighter Wing in Westfield, chats with Dominic DelBuono, a World War II Army medical veteran, during a special Veterans Day luncheon at the Heritage Woods Assisted Living Center in Agawam yesterday. More than a dozen military personnel from the 104th Fighter Wing joined 17 retired veterans presently living at the center. (Photo by Frederick Gore)
At the close of the ceremony, a check for $500 was presented to Police Chief David Ricardi from the VFW to the department’s K9 unit.
Veterans were honored with commemorations around the state yesterday, including a parade in Westfield, and in Boston in which gay and transgender veterans were allowed to march for the first time.
Springfield honored veterans with a parade that also included high school Junior ROTC members and a memorial wreath laying in Court Square led by Mayor Domenic Sarno and U.S. Rep. Richard Neal.
OutVets, a recently-formed group representing LGBT military veterans, had about 20 marchers in yesterday afternoon’s parade through downtown Boston, and drew some cheers from people along the route. Civil War re-enactors and high school Junior ROTC members also marched.
Retired U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Eric Bullen, of Westborough, Mass., left, holds an American flag as U.S. Army veteran Ian Ryan, of Dennis, Mass., front right, rolls up an OutVets banner after marching with a group representing LGBT military veterans in a Veterans Day parade yesterday in Boston. It was the first time a group representing LGBT military veterans marched in the parade. OutVets is a recently-formed nonpartisan and nonpolitical group based in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Gov. Deval Patrick and other top officials gathered at the Statehouse to express “gratitude, pride and support” for past and present service members from the Bay State.
“Today we express our gratitude, pride and support for the Massachusetts military personnel who protect our interests around the world,” Patrick said. “This Veterans Day we acknowledge all veterans’ dedication and service, as we reinforce our commitment to making opportunities and resources available to the Massachusetts men and women who have served, and continue to serve us.”
Civil War reenactor Danny White, of Boston, left, in the uniform of a Union Army 1st Lt., of 54th Massachusetts Regiment, Company A, prepares to march in a Veterans Day parade in Boston yesterday. Massachusetts marked Veterans Day with commemorations around the state, including the parade in Boston in which gay and transgender veterans were allowed to march for the first time. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
The families of three service members from Massachusetts who died in Iraq or Afghanistan were given the state’s Medal of Liberty for their sacrifice.
Patrick also announced $2 million in funding to repair the historic War Memorial Tower that sits atop Mount Greylock State Reservation in the Berkshires, the state’s highest peak. The memorial, completed in 1932, has been ravaged by the elements over the years.
Patrick pointed out that Massachusetts leads in the nation in many of the services it provides to veterans, including an effort to end veterans’ homelessness.
The ceremony also included a special tribute to women veterans, POWs and Gold Star Families.
U.S. Army veteran Randy Dupree, 58, right, of New York, salutes as he stands beside friend Edward Reliford, 67, a veteran of three wars including Vietnam and Desert Storm, during the 2014 annual Veterans Day parade in New ayork City yesterday. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
Thousands of veterans and their supporters marched up Fifth Avenue in New York, home to the nation’s oldest Veterans Day parade.
At 11 a.m. — the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month — a solemn hush fell over Manhattan’s Madison Square Park as veterans laid wreaths under the Eternal Light Monument to honor the fallen.
Former New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, who was a Marine lieutenant, served as grand marshal.
“I learned everything I know about leadership from my military service,” Kelly said.
Spectators wait with flags and cameras along Fifth Avenue during a Veterans Day parade yesterday in New York. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
The parade featured a float carrying rapper Ice-T, who is an Army veteran, plus six military dogs and their handlers, all of whom have served in the U.S. armed forces.
Maylee Borg, 40, of Staten Island, said she brought her two daughters to show them “that we should support our veterans, because they supported us.”
Her 13-year-old daughter, Kaitlyn Borg, made a sign that read, “Land of the free, thanks to the brave.”
British World War II veterans David Ovenstone, right, and Leslie Potter hold hands during an Armistice Day ceremony at the Menin Gate in Ypres, Belgium yesterday. The Menin Gate Memorial bears the names of more than 54,000 British and Commonwealth soldiers who were killed in the Ypres Salient of World War I and whose graves are not known. Ovenstone’s father served in WWI with the Royal Army and was gassed and wounded on the Somme in 1915. Potter’s grandfather was killed in Nov. 1915 and his name is engraved on the Menin Gate. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
Here is how the holiday was celebrated elsewhere around the country and overseas.
ARMISTICE DAY
Europe marked Armistice Day with ceremonies and moments of silence as France opened an international memorial on a former battlefield. The events had special significance because this year is the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I. Tuesday was the 96th anniversary of the armistice that ended the war on Nov. 11, 1918.
French President Francois Hollande placed a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier under Paris’ Arc de Triomphe. Later, he inaugurated an international war memorial at Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, in northern France, in the presence of German, British and Belgian officials. The Ring of Memory carries the names of 600,000 soldiers from over 40 countries who died in the region during the war. Names are listed alphabetically without their nationalities.
A military honor guards from different branches of the U.S. Armed Forces march along the Vietnam Veterans Wall Memorial in Washington yesterday during the commemoration of the Veterans Day. Americans marked Veterans Day with parades, speeches and military discounts, while in Europe the holiday known as Armistice Day held special meaning in the centennial year of the start of World War I. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
CELEBRITY CONCERT
Bruce Springsteen, Rihanna, Eminem and Metallica were among the headliners for a free concert on the National Mall to raise awareness for issues affecting veterans, In Washington, D.C.
Tuesday’s first-of-its-kind Concert for Valor is expected to draw hundreds of thousands of fans to the Mall. The Veterans Day event was spearheaded by Starbucks president Howard Schultz.
VETERAN BONUSES
State officials in Ohio used the holiday to remind Iraq war veterans that time is running out to claim bonuses of up to $1,500. Ohio voters in 2009 approved a $200 million bond issue to fund bonuses for veterans of the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan and Iraq war eras.
A parade of veterans service organizations begins during the annual Veterans Day Observance Ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., yesterday. Americans marked Veterans Day with parades, speeches and military discounts, while in Europe the holiday known as Armistice Day held special meaning in the centennial year of the start of World War I. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
VETERANS PERKS AND FREEBIES
Veterans Day is not only a time to honor those who have served in the military. For American businesses, it’s also a time to back up that appreciation with a freebie.
Many national chains, as well as mom-and-pop retailers around the U.S., offered free goods and services to anyone who has served in the military, a trend that has been growing since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. They included IHOP pancakes, Starbucks coffee and even admission at select theaters to see the World War II film “Fury,” starring Brad Pitt.
SERIOUS WORDS FROM A COMEDIAN
Comedian Bill Cosby urged hundreds in attendance at a Veterans Day ceremony in Philadelphia to “call out the name of someone who left their life for us” and remember those who died for their country.
Cosby told the crowd during a 20-minute address in front of the All Wars Memorial to Colored Soldiers and Sailors that “we don’t forget about ours.”
Verena Dobnik of the Associated Press contributed to this report.
