Honoring those who served

By MARY CARTER
Eagle Times Correspondent
CLAREMONT, NH — It was a glorious morning at Claremont’s Broad Street Park where a large crowd gathered to pay tribute to those who served and sacrificed for our nation.

It was on the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1919 that Veterans Day originated. First known as “Armistice Day,” it would evolve into an annual observance by a resolution passed by Congress in 1926, and become a National Holiday twelve years later. In 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed legislation changing the name to Veterans Day, commemorating all who served our country in war or at peace.

Claremont’s well-attended ceremony opened with a pledge of allegiance, prayers, and a fife and drum rendition of “Battle Hymn of the Republic” performed by Lois and Andy Buchanan.

Claremont American Legion Commander Steven Blish noted that World War I was supposed to be the war to end all wars. Sadly, it was not. Since 1918, countless numbers of men and women have given their efforts and often their lives for the cause of liberty and freedom.

Blish spoke of Hiroshi Miyamura, a Japanese American soldier and recipient of our nation’s highest award for military valor, the Medal of Honor. During the Korean War, Miyamura single-handedly held off the enemy during a retreat. Captured, Miyamura was marched 300 miles over five weeks. During this time, Miyamura was nearly shot for aiding a wounded fellow POW. When Miyamura died last November, he was one of the last two remaining Medal of Honor recipients for the Korean War. Miymura was 97.

Blish solemnly noted that there are more than 81,000 Americans still missing since World War II. Members of New Hampshire’s Rolling Thunder were on hand to pay homage to those who have yet to come home.

Audience members sang and prayed and stood in respectful and sometimes tearful silence. Ken Coulombe was at the event, waiting for the right moment to snap a photo of Broad Street Park’s flag unfurling in the breeze. Coulombe, who spent three years in the Air Force stationed in Germany, was a photographer for the Eagle Times in the 1980s.

After the touching ceremony, area veterans and their families were honored with a buffet luncheon at Claremont’s American Legion Post 29. While appreciative of the ceremony and the wonderful meal, some folks hinted that there was more on a different level that could be done.

“Many of our vets are in need of health care that isn’t always readily accessible,” said Janet Peirce, wife of war veteran Eric Peirce. She noted that things were looking up.

Spurred on by activists such as director and television host Jon Stewart, the Biden Administration declared on Nov. 10 that measures were officially being taken to address health and emotional welfare for all those who served our country.

“If you fight for us, we’ll fight for you,” Veterans Affairs Deputy Secretary Tanya Bradsher related to reporters ahead of the announcement.

This year’s moving ceremony at Broad Street Park was filmed by Joshua Nelson, Executive Director of Claremont Community Television. Nelson hopes to have the footage edited and televised by Nov. 13.