KINGSTON — Residents, elected officials, and local members of the military celebrated Veterans Day in Kingston with the unveiling and dedication of a new monument for service members past and present who served during the war on terror.
The monument, unveiled Wednesday morning in front of City Hall, is engraved with a quote from former President George Bush two years after 9/11. It exclaims the responsibility of Americans to protect American freedoms for all people on the planet.
The Kingston Veteran’s Association raised the funds for the monument, said Master Gunnery Sgt. Michael Decker, a member of the association.
“We kicked off a fundraising effort over the last two or three years and we raised the funds for this monument because we, as veterans, want to pay homage to those who serve,” said Decker.
Decker, who also spoke of the association’s work with local at-risk veterans, added he hopes people will thank a veteran every day, not just on Veteran’s Day.
This sentiment was echoed by County Executive Pat Ryan who is a post-9/11 veteran himself. He said there are still many service members serving multiple tours because the war on terror is still active and he hopes the monument will reignite the conversation about the sacrifices our active military members are continuing to make. The monument doesn’t contain dates for exactly that reason.
In that vein, he said he hopes the community will embrace the spirit of veterans and those on active duty, especially on Veteran’s Day and especially during the pandemic.
“We have thousands of veterans and military families in the county, so thank you to them for serving and then what I ask all the residents of the county to think about is, the spirit of those who serve in the military – the willingness to put something greater than themselves first; we all need to have that sense and think about how we can each serve, especially in the midst of a pandemic. How can we each do our part to sacrifice for the greater good,” said Ryan.
The monument was dedicated following a brief memorial outside of City Hall by local, active-duty military members and the local Color Guard.
