Warwick's Memorial Park hosts Veterans Day ceremony

Warwick - Veterans Day, Nov. 11, fell on a Sunday this year, and perhaps for that reason the turnout of local citizens was light for the annual ceremony held in Warwick’s Memorial Park. Nevertheless, it was an important event and those who did attend were impressed by the members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 4662, American Legion Post 214, public officials and guest speakers who honor our veterans each year. The brief ceremony began, as tradition dictates, at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. VFW Post 4662 Commander Michael Aiello opened the official ceremony at that exact time. He explained it was the moment in 1918 when the Armistice was signed ending the hostilities of World War I. A year later, President Woodrow Wilson issued his “Armistice Day” proclamation. After being declared a legal holiday in 1938 and following the Korean War, Armistice Day was renamed “Veterans Day.” President Dwight Eisenhower signed the order in 1954. American Legion Post 214 Commander Walter Parkinson then gave the invocation and later, Aiello introduced guest speakers who included Warwick Town Supervisor Michael Sweeton, Mayor Michael Newhard, Warwick Town Justice Peter Barlet and Parkinson. The Post 214 Commander expressed his gratitude to all veterans for their sacrifices to preserve freedoms expressed in our Bill of Rights. “There’s a cost to those rights,” he said. “To all of you who served,” said Sweeton, “our town says, ‘Thank You.’” Newhard echoed that same sentiment. In a repeat of last year’s departure from the usual ceremony, local singer and songwriter Bill Misener sang “The Veteran’s Waltz,” a song he composed for a new album. In the words of the song, “I’ll never know why I was saved,” Misener captures the feelings expressed by many of those who survived the battlefield and returned home. Barlet, the town judge, then spoke about the impact that veterans, who perform community service and run for public office in larger percentages than their fellow citizens, have had on their communities. “They bring democracy to other lands and they return to practice democracy in their communities,” he said. Barlet also credited the ending of segregation in military service as the forerunner and catalyst for Brown v. the Board of Education and other civil rights milestones. VFW Post 4662 Chaplain Clayton Eurich closed the ceremony with a prayer followed by the traditional salute during the playing of “Taps” by bugler Dick Parmerter.