On the morning of Nov. 11 at 11 am, the Bristol Veteran Council held its annual Veterans Day ceremony at American Legion Post 2. Veterans and citizens from across Bristol attended in order to honor our veterans.
The ceremony began with the Pledge of Allegiance and singing of the national anthem.
A moment of silence was held for the two Bristol Police officers killed in our hometown of Bristol, Conn., in an ambush. (Post 2 helped secure the flags used to cover the caskets.) The Bristol Police chief was present along with a few officers and a number of retired police officers.
A prayer was said for all veterans, those retired along with those deployed.
The POW/MIA table ceremony was held without Art Ward this year. Students from Bristol High School read the names of veterans, 154 who pasted away since Memorial Day. The American Legion honor guard was honored for being there when our veterans pass and are laid to rest. The members had attended over 294 funerals so far this year.
Dave Carello talked about the founding history of Veterans Day. The mayor talked about Bristol.
Joe Caminiti rang the USS Kidd bell as part of the Bells of Peace. Joe, a 98-year-old Iwo Jima survivor, rang the bell nine times: one ring for each of the eight Bristol soldiers who died in World War I (Seicheprey American Legion Post 2 was named in honor of). The 9th ring was in honor of all veterans.
The Post 2 honor guard fired a volley followed by taps.
The World War II Legacy Foundation was there with a birthday Card for a 103-year-old Marine living in Shelton. They were asking everyone to sign it.
Before the start of the ceremony a group of young students handed out flowers to the veterans. Handmade Veterans Day cards, handmade by local school students, were also pasted out to the veterans. The Legacy Foundation members who attended took some of the cards to hand out to veterans they knew who were unable to attend.