By MARK TODD - Staff Writer - mtodd@starbeacon.com
CONNEAUT — Music, speeches and tributes to veterans “past, present and future” were part of Conneaut’s annual Veterans Day ceremony at City Hall.
The observance in front of the city’s Veterans Memorial also included a moment of silence for soldiers killed by a gunman at Fort Hood, Texas, last week.
The Rev. Roger Hogle, of South Ridge Baptist Church, said the military continues to thwart those who would “steal freedom from us, yet we are still free.”
“For every veteran, we say thank you,” Hogle said.
The morning’s guest speaker was John Williams, a Marine Corps vet who served in Vietnam and recently retired as director of veterans affairs for Erie County, Pa.
Williams, in emotional remarks, talked of the toll military service takes not only on the serviceman or woman but their families. Fighting tears, Williams recalled his mother telling him, “Everyday I wondered if you were still alive” while fighting overseas.
A Marine severely wounded in battle continues to be a inspiration, Williams said. Williams met the Marine while recovering from malaria in a military hospital.
“He carried on,” Williams said.
Today’s military men and women can look forward to joining an “extended family, a community.”
“We’re proud of you” he said.
The ceremony also included the laying of wreaths at the base of the monument by representatives of the various branches of the Armed Forces, a rifle salute and the playing of “Taps.”
