Parade in Putnam
CARMEL – A chilly morning accompanied by golden sunshine and blue skies greeted scores of veterans Sunday when Putnam County observed Veterans Day.
At the Lake Carmel monument with the temperature recorded at 33 degrees, Director of Veterans Affairs Karl Rohde thanked the attendees for “remembering our vets.”
In Mahopac, some 150 were on hand for a parade and ceremony while events in Brewster, Putnam Valley, Cold Spring, Patterson and Putnam Lake also paid tribute to America’s veterans.
Rohde recalled the history of Veterans Day. “On November 11, 1918, after four years of war, Allied and German powers met in France to sign an armistice that halted the hostilities of World War I. The agreement was signed at 5 a.m. and went into effect at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 finally bringing to an end the carnage of the Great War—the war thought by many to be the war that would end all wars.”
In 1954, President Dwight Eisenhower renamed the day Veterans Day to honor the service of veterans from all wars.
On the steps of the historic Putnam County Courthouse at 11 a.m. Sunday, members of the Carmel Rotary rang a bell 21 times signifying the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I.
Legislator Toni Addonizio composed a poem for Veterans Day:
“They gave their all when they answered the call;
Boots on the ground marching in step with sand and land all around;
What did they give so we could be free?
They gave their all through air and sea;
Jets in the sky, brave men who fly;
Ships that surround while protecting our ground;
Our true heroes–defending our freedom–loving our flag;
Brave and bold–surroundings uncontrolled;
Fighting the battle–standing at their bases;
Never forgetting the faces–behold the long embraces!”
