MANSFIELD — Bruce Phipps welcomed a full house inside AMVETS Post 26 for a chilly, windy Veterans Day observance ceremony on Tuesday.
The annual parade down Park Avenue to the Central Park gazebo was cancelled due to the weather.
But the commander of the Richland County Joint Veterans Council said the weather sometimes just doesn’t cooperate, especially for older military veterans.
“I know a few years ago, we had to have it here (at the AMVETS). I had to cancel the parade. One veteran said, ‘Remember we used to march when there was snow on the ground and 36 degrees?’
“I said ‘Yeah, but we were 40 years younger,'” Phipps said, drawing a laugh from the room full of veterans, spouses and supporters.
“Thank you all for coming so we can be here where it’s a little bit warmer,” he said.
(Photos from the Richland County Joint Veterans Council’s Veterans Day ceremony on Tuesday at AMVETS Post 26. The story continues below the photos.)
Keynote speaker Charles Kvochick said it’s the duty of all citizens to ensure veterans feel their service to the country was appreciated.
“As veterans, we are accurately aware of sacrifices made by our service members. We are equally aware of the cost of these sacrifices. We know the value of the lessons that our military service bestowed upon us,” Kvochick said.
“These are the things we cannot lose to time. There is no better way to thank a veteran for their service than to let him or her know that we got their back.
“After all, veterans have had the (country’s) back for 250 years, keeping our nation free, no matter the danger,” he said.
“For many veterans, our nation was important enough to endure long separations from families, miss the births of children, freeze in subzero temperatures, roast in far away deserts, lose limbs, and far too often, lose lives,” said Kvochick, a U.S. Navy veteran who spent eight years on active duty and five in the U.S. Naval Reserve.
“Their families serve and sacrifice as well. Military spouses have had to endure career interruptions, frequent changes of address and a disproportionation share of parental duties,” said Kvochick, who served on board the USS Tattnal, a Charles F. Adams-class guided missile destroyer based out of Naval Air Station Jacksonville in Jacksonville, Fla.
“Their children often have to deal with changes in schools, separation from friends and hardest of all, the uncertainty of whether not mom or dad would live through their next combat tour,” he said.
“So to those who came before me and to those I’ve had the privilege to serve with and to those who will follow, thank you for your selfless service as today we honor those who have worn our nation’s uniform,” said Kvochick, who left the military as an E-6 first class petty officer.
A life member of AMVETS Post 43, a 29-year member of American Legion Post 535 and a member of the Sons of the American Legion Squadron 535, Kvochick retired in May 2013 after 30 years with the City of Mansfield, where he worked as a 9-1-1 operations supervisor and police dispatcher, data analyst, IT manager and utility collections manager.
The ceremony included the posting of colors by VFW 3493; the National Anthem sung by John Darby; Pledge of Allegiance led by Josh Hurrell; invocation by Pastor Hank Webb from the Belmont Community Church; wreath presentation by the Jared Mansfield Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution; a 21-gun salute and “Taps” by the Richland County Joint Burial Squad and “Amazing Grace” on bagpipes by Doug Keppler.
“We thank you, Lord, for what this day represents,” Webb said in his prayer.
“We thank You for Your blessings upon our great country, upon our great leaders, and more importantly, upon our great men and women who have fought bravely for this that you’ve given us,” he said.
“We pray God here during this ceremony, Lord, that You be high and lifted up, that we would honor those around us, and that Father, we would find the comfort and safety knowing that they’ve committed (to achieving) for us,” Webb said.
