Ocean City Honors Military Members in Veterans Day Ceremony

Veterans Day was commemorated in Ocean City in honor of the men and women in the U.S. military, but the ceremony also offered a somber reminder of the alarming number of suicides among veterans struggling to adjust to civilian life.

Songs, prayers and words of praise for U.S. veterans from the Revolutionary War up to modern times filled the Ocean City Tabernacle during a ceremony Monday morning attended by hundreds of local residents.

In keynote remarks, Mayor Jay Gillian emphasized the dangers and sacrifices faced by members of the U.S. military while fighting wars across the globe. He noted that it has been more than a century since the first formal observance of Veterans Day following the end of World War I in 1918.

“It was a celebration of peace. We now know that the peace could not last,” Gillian said. “Since 1919, millions of Americans have gone too far in every part of the world. Many more answered the call and stood ready to defend our national security and our freedoms. How many others will raise their hands to serve our nation over the next hundred years, and how much will they sacrifice?”

Gillian said everyone hopes for peace, but noted ominously that “we cannot stop war” from erupting.

“We can pray for every man and woman to return home alive and healthy, but we cannot guarantee it. The unknown is what really depends on such bravery from our veterans. In return for that bravery, our community must make a sacred promise to serve our veterans,” he said.

    Mayor Jay Gillian delivers his keynote remarks.
  

Gillian recounted a number of special events held in Ocean City each year to recognize the veterans. He urged the audience members to let veterans know how much they are appreciated in the community throughout the year, not just on Veterans Day.

“Let Veterans Day be a reminder of what we can do,” he said. “Saying ‘thank you’ to veterans is a good place to start. It’s a simple gesture, but one that reminds veterans that they’re appreciated.”

Poignant moments during the ceremony included prayers, a presentation of flags representing all branches of the U.S. military and the ceremonial laying of a memorial wreath.

“As we sit here today, let us not forget the veterans who have gone before us,” John Zbikowski, of Ocean City’s VFW Post 6650, said while delivering the invocation.

Members of both VFW Post 6650 and Ocean City’s American Legion Post 524 took part in the ceremony.

Miss Ocean City Taylor Mulford led the audience in the singing of the national anthem and “God Bless America.”

    Ocean City resident and U.S. Navy veteran Dave Hayes waves while being recognized by the audience during the playing of a medley of songs for each branch of the military.
  

Veterans were warmly applauded by the audience when they stood up in the Tabernacle auditorium to be recognized during the playing of a medley of songs from each branch of the military.

However, David Yhlen, grand knight of Ocean City’s Knights of Columbus, sadly reminded the audience that many veterans are dying by suicide as they struggle with anxiety and PTSD and their transition back to civilian life.

The Knights of Columbus has placed more than 550 miniature American flags in a small park at Ocean City’s busy intersection of Ninth Street and Bay Avenue to symbolize the average number of suicides by U.S. veterans each month.

“On behalf of the members of the Knights of Columbus, I want to thank the city’s leadership for the use of the park at Ninth and Bay as we continue awareness and support the interventions toward the goal of significantly reducing veterans’ suicide,” Yhlen said.

The “Flags for Forgotten Soldiers” campaign was started nationwide by an Ohio man whose son, a sergeant in the U.S. Army, took his own life after struggling with anxiety and PTSD following a mass shooting on the Fort Hood military base in Texas in 2009.

    More than 550 miniature American flags, placed in a small park at Ninth Street and Bay Avenue, symbolize the average number of suicides each month by U.S. veterans.
  

Yhlen said the flag displays have been placed locally by the Knights of Columbus in Ocean City, Somers Point, Linwood, Egg Harbor Township and Marmora to raise awareness of what he called “the staggering number of veterans” who commit suicide nationwide.

“We see this as an opportunity to make them aware of the many veterans who are suffering from anxiety and PTSD,” Yhlen said in an interview after the ceremony.

Harry Wahl, treasurer of the Knights of Columbus, pointed out that people often express “shock and surprise” when they learn the meaning of the flag display.

Yhlen said the Department of Veterans Affairs has made it a top clinical priority to implement a series of programs to help veterans in crisis, encourage them to seek help and, ultimately, greatly reduce the number of suicides.

    Ocean City firefighters stand in front of a large American flag hanging from the ladder of a fire truck outside the Ocean City Tabernacle.
  

    Paul Banfe, a trustee with American Legion Post 524, serves as flag bearer.
  

    Ocean City police officers stand during the ceremony.
  

    David Yhlen, grand knight of the Ocean City Knights of Columbus, talks about the staggering number of suicides among U.S. veterans.
  

    Miss Ocean City Taylor Mulford leads the ceremony in the singing of the national anthem.
  

    The audience at the Ocean City Tabernacle stands during the reading of a prayer.