’I come out here to give thanks’

MILTON — This year’s Santa Rosa County Veterans Day Ceremony had a feeling of unity and family.

Strangers were thanking each other for their service. Veterans of various wars and generations were talking, hugging and posing for pictures.

Their only bond is the unspoken shared experience of the brutality of war. You can see the emotion briefly on their faces when they talk about where they fought. They do not have to say anything more.

It happened when Richard Leslie a Army Vietnam veteran who lost both legs after stepping on a mine 1965, met 94-year-old Marine MSgt. William F. Festing Jr., a veteran of World War II and Korea who is also bound to a wheelchair.

“I come out here to give thanks to all veterans that have served,” Leslie said.

Festing, still able to wear his original dress blues said “I come to see the people I know, a lot of them are gone.”

Then Molly Busby and her son, QM3 Cody Busby approach Leslie and Festing. He shook both of their hands and told them thank you for their service.

QM3 Busby has served four years and just reenlisted for another five years. He is stationed on the USS Nitze, a DDG-94 Guided Missile Destroyer. He has been on two deployments to the Persian Gulf.

“Veterans Day means a lot. It’s more important now,” Busby said. “I feel like I can come home and be appreciated for what I do.”

The Veterans Day Ceremony started with a parade from Milton High School to the Veterans Memorial Plaza. The bands from Pace and Milton high schools joined forces for the parade and there were plenty of veterans groups, Scouts and ROTC members marching or riding motorcycles and cars as they threw beads and candy to the crowd.

Upon arriving at the plaza Commissioner Don Salter, an Army veteran and paratrooper, took the master of ceremony duties.

Lt. Frank Tillotson, from NAS Whiting led the prayer. The Milton High School Choir sang the national anthem and “God Bless America.”

Ethan Salter, grandson of the commissioner, led the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance. Milton Mayor Heather Lindsey and Commissioner Bob Cole read proclamations.

NAS Whiting Operations Officer CDR. Leroy Shoesmith was the guest speaker. He said 1 percent of the population is serving on active duty and we must not forget the 17 percent of the population that has served – the veterans.

Nine veteran groups presented wreaths.

Milton Garden Club’s Jenny Weber unveiled a Blue Star Marker that will designate Highway 87 as a Blue Star Highway.

Taps was played by members of the Milton high School Band.

There was also an unveiling of a Liberty Tree Plaque.

The event ended with the Santa Rosa 4-H cooking hamburgers and hot dogs donated by Walmart.

Commissioner Salter also thanked the Milton CPO Association for volunteering to power wash the memorial.

The Santa Rosa County Veterans Memorial Plaza, which hosted the ceremony, was established on Nov. 11, 2004. Since then they have coordinated the Santa Rosa County Veterans Day Ceremony held in Milton each year.

Vicki Powers works at the Veterans Memorial Plaza located at 5191 Willing Street. She said the event can be stressful, but acknowledged the help she gets from veterans groups, local schools and city and county officials.

“This year we received a $5,000 donation from the Grimes, Bender, Travis family,” Powers said. “It was an unexpected surprise, but three generations of that family have served the country.”

This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: ’I come out here to give thanks’