Gahanna celebrated Veterans Day Monday with a ceremony that included the addition of 29 new bricks to its Veterans Memorial Park on Johnstown Road.
One of those bricks was for 101-year-old World War II Navy veteran Lt. Commander Howard Kelso. He said ceremonies like the Veterans Day remembrance remind vets that they’re appreciated.
“Certainly the veterans are honored for that sacrifice that they make. You're lucky if you survive. Not everyone does,” said Kelso.
Kelso served from 1941 to 1968, including in the South Pacific, Korea, Vietnam and at bases all over the U.S. He said his family lived in a mobile home for seven years.
"It was real honorable service. I'm real pleased to have been able to serve,” Kelso said.
Gahanna’s remembrance included a 21-gun salute, the laying of the wreath by the memorial’s eternal flame and the playing of “Taps” on two trumpets and “Amazing Grace” on the bagpipes.
“As proud Americans, we should all remember our freedom is not free,” said Stacia Naquin, who hosted the ceremony.
Naquin said that Gahanna is proud of all its veterans.
“Today, we acknowledge and honor every person who ever served in the United States military, regardless of whether it was during war or peace, and who placed their lives on the line for our freedom,” Naquin said. “Veterans come in every shape and size, every color and ethnicity, young and old, of every religion and political affiliation. Veterans are a microcosm of society and are everywhere.”
U.S. Navy veteran Ted Mosure, who served with Seal Team One in Vietnam, spoke about the American military's role in protecting freedom.
"It is our responsibility as American citizens to become more responsible, informed, engaged in our government and to conduct ourselves each day in such a manner as to honor the historical service and sacrifice of those veterans whom we honor today,” Mosure said.
He said in the last 120 years, the U.S. has lost 1.2 million soldiers to combat and saw another 1.4 million soldiers wounded, “fighting totalitarianism, tyranny, oppression in all its forms."
Dublin and Westerville also held Veterans Day events Monday morning, and Ohio State President Ted Carter, a retired U.S. Navy vice admiral, spoke at the National Veterans Memorial and Museum in Franklinton.
