CROWN POINT — Heavy snowfall moved veterans, supporters and community members inside the historic Lake County Courthouse Monday for the city’s Veterans Day ceremony.
One hundred years ago, the United States celebrated its first Armistice Day under President Woodrow Wilson. That same year, the American Legion was founded, said Joe Powers, a member of American Legion Post 20.
In 1954, Armistice Day became known as Veterans Day — a day to celebrate everyone who served his or her country, Powers said.
“If I ask you to close your eyes and picture a veteran, most of us would think of a mature man marching in a parade or a ceremony such as this,” he said. “But today, I would like to talk about a much overlooked portion of the veterans: the female veteran.”
There are nearly 2 million female veterans in the United States, according to data from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
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“During the Revolutionary War, women followed their husbands to war out of necessity. Many served in the military camps, doing laundry, (and were) cooks and nurses,” Powers said. “During the American Civil War, again, women answered the call to become nurses, matrons of hospitals, again, cooks, both for the Union and Confederate armies.”
Power said the holiday is to honor all veterans who placed their lives on the line for freedom, including those who are still on the battlefield.
“Those men and women were ordinary people, until they heard a call of duty and answered it. They left their families, their homes and their lives ... they fought to protect our country, to maintain our way of life,” Powers said.
“The war on terrorism has helped us all realize how truly unique (the) American way of life is. The freedom we enjoy is extremely special and that is why we must defend it.”
Mayor David Uran, whose daughter, Nicole, is an airman in the United States Air Force, recognized the men and women who served in the United States Armed Forces, including those who are still on the front lines or now serve the community in another capacity.
“On Veterans Day, we stand here united, together as one,” Uran said.
Uran signed an executive order Monday that will allow full-time city employees who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces to take a day off. Traditionally, those employees were given the rest of Veterans Day off after the city’s ceremony. Now, the Veteran's Benefit Day allows those employees to request off work "at any time, for any reason" as long as their supervisor approves it, the order states.
“They served not only today, but they’ve served all year long,” Uran said.
“I encourage our businesses in Crown Point to follow the same to really honor those men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice,” he added.
Also Monday, Frank Mrvan, in partnership with Wicker Memorial Park, hosted "Veterans Day: Remembering Our Gold Star Families" at Wicker Memorial Park in Highland.
“Our Gold Star families need the love and support of everyone in our community,” Mrvan said in a news release. “Every day they are reminded of a son or daughter who gave their lives for our freedom. When we honor a Gold Star family, we are saying ‘You don’t stand alone. We are here for you.’ The eternal flame at Wicker Park is a testament to all of them.”
The ceremony honored fallen soldier Spc. Sergio Eduardo Perez. Perez enlisted in the Indiana Army National Guard in 2010, shortly after he graduated from Lake Central High School.
“It seems only yesterday Sergio was here, planning his future after the military,” Veronica Orozco, Perez’s mother, said. “The Gold Star organization has made this wound more bearable than it would have been. My pain is their pain and their pain is mine. We help each other.”
Perez, an East Chicago native, died in 2012 after rocket-propelled grenades hit his vehicle in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan.
