Many events were going on in the Dayton area to celebrate the veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces. Schools, businesses and churches all got involved in celebrating these men and women, offering items, deals and more.
One event that happened recently was held at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Park on South Patterson Blvd. in Dayton, where they recognized these men and women by presenting the American flag, or colors, amongst an enormous group of veterans and local Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) and Junior ROTC.
At the event, a detail presented the colors and people from all over the area attended to show thanks for active duty, retired and separated military men and women. A few tables were present before and after the event, providing information about veterans.
“I think the most important part would be seeing the veterans happy that there are young kids out there that think about the wellbeing of our veterans,” said C/Capt. Cheyenne Raleigh of Wayne High School’s Junior ROTC program.
C/Capt. Raleigh is the Operations Officer of her program and is in her fourth and last year of Junior ROTC. She is also a training officer in charge of sophomore students enrolled in the course.
“I would encourage everyone to go to this event! [The speaker’s] love seeing us there, as do the veterans. It warms my heart as a person to see that others care about the importance of [recognizing] our veterans.” C/Capt. Raleigh said.
The event is annual, but this was the first year several high school JROTC were formally invited to participate in the event.
Another group that got involved in Veterans Day was Engage City Church, who recognized Veterans during their Sunday church service by gifting them a dog tag necklace with a bible verse written on it.
Engage City Church is only a year old, borrowing Wayne High School’s auditorium to provide church services to Huber Heights. The church has about 400 people in attendance on Sundays. Engage City Church is very devoted to serving their community.
Chrissy Wampler, the pastor’s wife at Engage City Church, says, “We believe our culture does a poor job at celebrating sacrifice. We celebrate significance, but not sacrifice. At Engage, we notice what others look past. So we chose to honor those who have sacrificed for our freedom and our country’s freedom.”
Many businesses got involved too. Buffalo Wild Wings offered a free small wing meal to all veterans. Texas Roadhouse had a small menu of meals veterans could have for free. Several businesses across the nation offer free or discounted meals/items as a way of thanking veterans for their service.
Veterans Day has been celebrated nationwide since Nov. 11, 1919, but was originally called “Armistice Day.” The name was officially changed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1954.
The Dayton area was saturated with various events to attend on Friday the 10th and Saturday the 11th. Many people of all ages got involved and gave back to these veterans to honor their service.
Kelsey Fitzpatrick
Reporter