Above: World War II and Korean War veteran Robert Whitaker salutes the Veterans Day parade participants as they march down Fry Boulevard.
The parade had 56 marching units, including seven bands. (ED HONDA • HERALD/REVIEW)
Posted on 11/12/2009 7:47:14 PM PST by SandRat
SIERRA VISTA — From the founding of America through today, the citizens of the nation owe veterans a debt of gratitude, an Army colonel said Wednesday.
Speaking at the end of Sierra Vista’s 15th annual Veterans Day parade, Col. Timothy Faulkner said no less a person than President George Washington noted the need to appreciate veterans after the Revolutionary War.
Faulkner, Fort Huachuca’s garrison commander, said it was Washington who set the tone that carries through to today when he said, “We owe veterans a debt of gratitude, indeed a debt of honor.”
And the colonel noted that from Valley Forge to Vietnam, from Kuwait to Kandahar and from Berlin to Baghdad, America’s armed forces “have borne the costs of America’s wars and they have stood watch over America’s peace.”
Many area residents applauded veterans of the past and of today as they marched down Fry Boulevard.
The nexus between those who serve in uniform today and are stationed on the fort — soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines — are part of the greater area community, the colonel said.
“Our community is made greater by those who have worn the uniform. Veterans are our neighbors, friends, coaches, volunteers and role models,” Faulkner said.
Each and every day, veterans make a difference in the community, he added.
That was demonstrated after the mass shooting deaths on Fort Hood, Texas, last week, the garrison commander said.
A veteran who was a mother, Army spouse and civilian policewoman stopped “a coward” from killing and wounding more people at that installation, Faulkner said.
“There is no question that the heroic actions of Sgt. Kimberly Munley made a difference in her community,” he said.
Munley was one of two Army civilian police officers who shot and wounded the suspect in the killings. Munley herself was severely wounded in the exchange of gunfire with the Army major who was the suspected gunman. The other civil service police officer also was a veteran.
The strength behind service members
Critical to the support function of veterans are their families, Faulkner said.
Calling family members of veterans their pillar of strength, the colonel noted they often go unrecognized, and he asked the audience of several hundred at Veterans’ Memorial Park park to join him in applause for them.
On the day set aside to remember veterans, Faulkner said, “We gather today to remind ourselves that our mission as fighting men and women must continue. And to continue, we must have those that are willing, able and inspired to raise their hands again and again to be counted with those that came before them.”
As an officer in the Army, the garrison commander said he was proud to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with those who served before.
On the field before Faulkner were small detachments of active- duty soldiers, airmen and Marines from the fort, as well as a reminder of the post’s history, members of B Troop, 4th U.S. Cavalry Regiment (Memorial).
The past and the present mixed in the ceremony at the park.
Before the speeches began, a flight of F-16 fighters of the Arizona Air National Guard’s 162nd Fighter Wing roared overhead.
The ceremony ended with the firing of a 21-gun salute from howitzers of the Fort Huachuca Select Honor Guard’s battery. That was followed by the 24 mournful notes of taps, the military musical salute to the fallen, played by a bugler from the post. The service songs of the Coast Guard, Air Force, Navy, Marines and Army also were played.
Perhaps one comment from Faulkner during his speech encapsulated the entire event:
“Every morning, we wake to serve a country made free because of men and women like you. Ladies and gentlemen, our country’s veterans.”
My dad was Air Force and I spent quality time on many a flight-line watching Air Shows. Growing up near Airbases, those jets were the sound of Freedom- even if you had to pause during a phone conversation while they passed overhead.
God bless these men for all that they have given.
On this past Memorial Day we had two Missing Man Formation Fly-Bys. One over the Post Cemtary in the morning and the second over the Veterans Cemetary in town at sunset.
Yes, this formation reaches into the soul and grabs you by the spine. Biting your lip is about all you can do to hold-back the emotion.
As the son of an Air Force pilot, it may hold special meaning to me, but the respect shown to the Missing Man by these fighter pilots has yet to be equalled or surpassed by any other form of expression.
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