Watch a video of Tuesday's Veterans Day commemorationKenneth Franklin Hatch, 26, served in Iraq in the U.S. Air Force and died in a car accident when he returned. At a courthouse gathering Tuesday morning, the Hatches of Frenchtown joined some 100 others in honoring veterans of the armed forces for the sacrifices they make to guard the liberties of Americans.
“We're just grateful that they are there protecting our freedoms,” said Gloria Roark, an audience member who said she isn't a veteran but was raised to be patriotic. “I have a veteran's heart.”
Record numbers of Americans took advantage last week of one of the most precious liberties, said Dan Gallagher, adjutant with the American Legion Post 101. They voted, and in doing so passed on political power by the ballot, not the bullet. The new president promises change, and Gallagher said much change is needed for veterans.
A tragic number of those who serve in the military commit suicide, he said. Many negotiate a bureaucratic health care maze that frustrates them until they drop their claims. But he said officials and citizens alike ignore data that call for improvements.
“The Veterans Administration must become what it was intended to be - the veteran's advocate, not the veteran's adversary,” Gallagher said.
At the flagpole, one man turned a creaky wheel that pulled Old Glory up high. This year marks the 27th that such a banner has waved there in American Legion Veterans Day tributes. Some saluted and others pressed their hats to their hearts, and when Charlo High School student Tawnie Kerr sang the final lines of the “The Star-Spangled Banner” - “o'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave” - one woman with a stroller wiped her eyes.
The gathering honored the commitment to duty of those both living and dead, said Bruce Bender, chief administrative officer for Missoula. The Veterans Day ceremony commemorates service, and he said the courthouse lawn was a fitting place to do so.
“It is in these public spaces ... that we learn of service, we learn of citizenship to city, to community, to country,” said Bender in an address.
Some who serve never win a lot of medals or rise to high ranks, said Keith Jensen, speaker and member of Post 101. Yet he told the crowd he knew of one such man to whom the country still owes a tremendous debt of gratitude. Never tell “Private Pete” the Holocaust didn't happen because he saw its victims, Jensen said. That man was his father, Pfc. Howard Peter Jensen, who served nearly four years in many countries and returned from World War II to raise his family on a small farm near Wolf Point.
“Thanks, Dad,” Jensen said.
Last week's historic election ushers in a new president, and Missoula County Commissioner Larry Anderson said he hopes the new administration will offer veterans more support. Some of their needs are urgent, he said, and they have waited long for a promised hospital in Denver that would treat brain and spinal injuries.
“We live and hope that those promises will be kept,” Anderson said in a speech.
The Color Guard of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Veteran Warrior Society presented flags, and a speaker read letters of support from Montana's governor and congressional delegation. A torch on the memorial “Honor Table” was lit, the flame to serve as a reminder of the country's commitment to those who answer the military's call.
In a prayer, Father Jim Hogan told God people's hearts were heavy with grief as they honored all the men and women who served, and he asked for help supporting the veterans and loving them.
“We never ask your blessings upon the wars in which we engage, for you are a God and spirit of peace,” Hogan said.
Reporter Keila Szpaller can be reached at 523-5262 or at keila.szpaller@missoulian.com.
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