The nation’s men and women who have served in uniform share an unspoken bond formed during adventures at war and peace, a U.S. Army veteran said Thursday as Montgomery County paused to mark Veterans Day.
“Being a veteran is something that had to be earned — it can never be taken away. It has no monetary value but is a priceless gift,” said Jason Black, quartermaster of Brian Bowman VFW Post 1431, who spoke at the post’s annual ceremony.
Black served in the Army from 1999-2005, based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina with the 82nd Airborne Division. He was deployed to South Korea with the 2nd Infantry Division.
Speaking to a small crowd of local veterans and their spouses at the event, which was moved indoors from Marie Canine Plaza due to rain, Black encouraged former service members to share their stories and plug back into their community.
As the nation honored its veterans with ceremonies timed to mark the moment fighting ceased on the Western Front of World War I in 1918, a wreath was laid at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier exactly a century after the soldier’s internment.
The first nationwide observance of Veterans Day, then known as Armistice Day, as a holiday came in 1938. The holiday’s name was officially changed in 1954.
“This holiday is not a day that belongs to one veteran or multiple veterans who fit in a certain demographic. It’s a day for honoring all veterans,” Black said.
During the ceremony, Crawfordsville Mayor Todd Barton read a proclamation encouraging residents to recognize veterans.
