Veterans past, present honored

It was not the region’s biggest Veterans Day service. There were no TV cameras or politicians under the evergreens in Riverfront Park. No one tied yellow ribbons to the nearby oak.

Just a few veterans gathered around the statue of a soldier whose only weapon is holstered, a contemplative figure for a contemplative group who believe that “Support our Troops” should be more than a bumper sticker.

“This is our day. Not that we don’t honor (veterans) every day,” said Stan Woods.

Woods, like many of the others, wore a black leather biker jacket Tuesday. A Vietnam veteran 40 years older than the one immortalized in bronze, he has stood sentinel at homecomings, funerals and Veterans Day ceremonies as a member of the Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association.

He and other veterans formed a flag line earlier in the morning, outside the public event at Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena. There, the dignitaries included Holly Petraeus, wife of Gen. David Petraeus, head of U.S. Central Command.

Before that event was over, the veterans slipped away. They walked through the rain to the city’s Vietnam War memorial for their quiet annual gathering.

With them was 10-year-old Michael Fall. An honorary member of the Patriot Guard Riders, he has been to perhaps half a dozen gatherings.

He was among a group that met a war-wounded Iraq war soldier at Spokane International Airport.

“I shook his hand,” Michael said.

He stood sentinel at a funeral.

“It made me kind of sad and kind of proud,” he said.

And he stood in the rain Tuesday, near his grandfather, mother and aunt – just a few of the many veterans in his life – and listened as a veteran played “Amazing Grace” on bagpipes.

It was 11 a.m. when the group gathered in Riverside Park – happenstance maybe, but a significant time nonetheless. At precisely that moment in Coeur d’Alene, veteran Jim Shepperd rang the Third Street Bell 11 times, signifying the armistice of 1918, which went into effect on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.

Veterans Day is a time for Americans to acknowledge “the history and heritage of our great nation,” said Staff Sgt. Cliff Drake of the Idaho Army National Guard Honor Guard Team. It’s a day, he said, “to honor those who have served, those who continue to serve and those who gave their lives” in service.

“These men and women who serve our nation are ordinary people, fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters … who protect our way of life,” Drake said. “The war on terrorism has helped us realize how truly unique our way of life is.”

Woods said the veterans in the motorcycle association don’t talk much politics – not even during the presidential election.

“We can’t do anything about the combat field” or decisions made in Washington, D.C., he said. “We can make sure that when they hit this shore, they’re going to be welcomed home.”