Community

Veterans event comes out of cold, returns to aircraft hangar

Three hundred folks filled an airplane hangar Friday to feast on turkey and fete military veterans.

The fifth-annual Respect and Remember Our Veterans ceremony returned to Gig Harbor Antique Airplane Museum after persevering for two years as a drive-up event. The Tacoma Narrows Airport venue restored intimacy to patriotic speeches, music and camaraderie.

For most people, Veterans Day is one day — Nov. 11. — to honor the service of all American military veterans, former and current. It marks when World War I formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918.

“But we’re going to hear from some people who it’s their mission every day,” said emcee Greg Copeland, a KING-TV newscaster and Peninsula High graduate.

Keynote speaker Dennis Kerwood spoke about passing on legacy through teaching.

Among them was keynote speaker Dennis Kerwood, deputy director of Washington Youth Challenge Academy in Bremerton. The quasi-military facility provides a highly disciplined, safe and professional learning environment that empowers at-risk youth.

Teach, hold your heart right, have character

Kerwood, a retired Army colonel, said that little a person does while in the military lasts.

“It seems like a depressing thought that can spin you into what’s the point?” he said. “But the one thing that carries on, that grows, that perpetuates is the leaders you develop and the lessons you teach them.”

Kerwood said to create a legacy, a veteran must teach, hold their heart right when they do, and possess character … “and people will remember your name their entire life.”

Speaker Mickey Traugutt said to continue serving after the military.

Like Kerwood, Mickey Traugutt graduated from West Point and earned honors for his actions in the Middle East. He founded Washington Patriot Construction in Gig Harbor and volunteers with Permission to Start Dreaming, which provides solutions to transform post-traumatic stress into post-traumatic growth.

Service doesn’t stop when you get out

“My message is that service doesn’t stop when you get out of the military. That’s when it really begins,” said Traugutt. “If you’re willing to die for your country, why not live and keep serving?”

After Traugutt spoke, a bouquet was presented to Leslie Mayne, who founded Permission To Start Dreaming. Her son had suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder after serving in Iraq and took his life.

Peninsula NJROTC Director spoke and his cadets worked the event.

Members of Peninsula School District’s Navy Junior ROTC program greeted attendees as they arrived, delivered early Thanksgiving lunches to their tables, and posted and retired the colors.

Cadets on way to becoming good citizens

“Let me tell you, all of our teenagers are not bad kids,” said their director, retired Navy Lt. Cmdr. Darrell Hood. “Those are great kids. They don’t get anything for free. They are coming to be what we expect of them — good citizens.”

Viveca Lane spoke of the invisible veteran. A lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard, she had returned from the Middle East where she was flying K-135 refueling tankers. Still in her desert uniform, she waited in a St. Louis park across from her kids’ school to surprise them. She started talking to a woman who recognized her rank and turned out to be a retired lieutenant colonel herself.

Air National Guard pilot Viveca Lane talked about invisible veterans.

“The point of the story is you were imagining a white person, a man,” she said. “This was an African-American woman in her 70s. There were probably just a handful serving at that time. There are veterans all around us that we don’t see. A person in a park with a dog or somebody sleeping in a car. People may not be thanked for their service because we don’t know they served.”

Veterans Hope Center

Larry Geringer of Puget Sound Veterans Hope Center distributed challenge coins to the crowd. The group originally created them to give to homeless vets to trade for coffee and donuts while they were waiting at the VA Medical Center at American Lake.

World War II veterans Chuck Meacham Sr., Bob Meyer, Hugh McMillan, Wally Lamb and Paul Cortteus were honored.

“They earned help,” Geringer said. “Many don’t know that they earned anything.”

The group also built 35 tiny houses in Orting for homeless vets and provides rooms at a rescue mission.

“We want to offer a cup of coffee, a place to sleep, food, but how about eternal life? That’s what we do,” Geringer said.

World War II vets honored

Organizers presented flags to four local World War II veterans — Chuck Meacham Sr., Bob Meyer, Wally Lamb and Paul Cortteus — along with Hugh McMillan, a retired CIA agent, longtime community activist and education reporter.

Music was provided by the Puget Sound Veterans Band.

The Puget Sound Veterans Band played a sing-along medley and service songs. Veterans from each service branch stood and were recognized during the performance.