By Richard Kerns
rkerns@newstribune.info
Tribune Staff Writer
KEYSER – Mineral County will honor veterans with a Veterans Day Ceremony Wednesday morning on the lawn of the County Courthouse.
The ceremony, to be framed by a 40-foot flag suspended between fire department ladder trucks parked along Armstrong Street, will begin at 11 a.m., marking the “11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month” that marked the end of World War I, 91 years ago.
The opening prayer will be offered by Randy Crowe, pastor of Believers Fellowship Church in Keyser. Remarks will also be offered by Mineral County Commission President Wayne Spiggle, and Keyser Mayor William “Sonny” Rhodes.
In addition to the Keyser and New Creek fire departments, which will contribute both apparatus and uniformed personnel, the ceremony will feature the Keyser High School Band, the McCoole VFW Honor Guard and the Young Marines.
Also on hand as honored guests will be Retired Sgt. Major Gerald Bland, owner of Top Kicks Military Museum in Petersburg, and William Ack, a former Prisoner of War from McCoole.
Closing comments will be offered by New Creek resident Damon Tillman, a veteran of the Gulf War, with Stacey Page of the Mineral County Prosecutor's Office singing “God Bless the U.S.A.”
Tillman organized this year's Veterans Day Ceremony, working with Mineral County Commissioner Cindy Pyles to line up speakers and organizations. In years past a parade was held, but this year organizers opted for a ceremony at the Courthouse, timed to the fateful hour in 1918 when the guns finally fell silent after five years of carnage and the death of 15 million in “The War to End All Wars.”
Tillman, a former law enforcement officer in Piedmont, Ocean City and Georgia, said he agreed to help organize the ceremony out of gratitude for the way the community supported him and other veterans during his deployment for the 1991 Gulf War.
“They did a lot for me when I was in Desert Storm,” he said. “It was a chance for me to give back to the community.”
Encouraging residents to turn out for the hour-long ceremony, Tillman said our region has long honored veterans, and must continue to do so.
“They're the ones who are fighting for us and allowing us to have our freedom,” he said. “Anything the community can do to give back to them is important.”
Barton, Md. —
