The men and woman who marched to Legion Square yesterday for the annual Veterans Day laying of wreathes and playing of taps, had new names to remember, new acts of sacrifice for which to pay tribute.
Just six days ago, 12 soldiers died in shootings at Fort Hood in Texas, master of ceremonies Mark Nestor reminded the more than 200 gathered at Gloucester High School's Benjamin A. Smith Field House before the parade to the memorial.
Many of the shooting victims were preparing for deployment to Iraq or the escalating conflict in Afghanistan.
But in the spirit of Veterans Day — making sure service is not forgotten — there were also new positive developments to consider.
Those filing out of the high school were greeted by the area's newest group pledged to support servicemen and -women, the Cape Ann Military Family Support Group.
Formed this year by the parents of local service members, the Family Support Group will provide a support network for the wives, husbands, children and parents of soldiers deployed overseas.
"We are about taking the families under our wing," said Sarah Van Auken, who started the group with Mary Jane Morrill of Rockport.
The Gloucester program was one of several held across Cape Ann yesterday, with Rockport, Manchester and Essex also hosting their own Veterans Day ceremonies. The program in Essex included installation of a U.S. flag that had flown over the Capitol building in Washington, and was presented to the town's Council on Aging earlier this year by Congressman John Tierney, D-Salem.
At the Gloucester program, the city's state lawmakers were quick to point to the passage of legislation bolstering Massachusetts' Welcome Home Bill, the signature legislative achievement of former Gloucester Rep. Anthony Verga, which expanded benefits for veterans.
The new Welcome Home Bill will build on those benefits, including allowing veterans who now receive $1,000 after a tour of duty to also receive half of that each time they return from later deployments.
But for all the changes in the nature of the nation's conflicts and the efforts to take care of soldiers when they come home, at the heart of the celebration every November, on the anniversary of the armistice ending World War I, is the intention to remember those who served before.
"I think of all my friends who never made it back," said Chris Larsen of Gloucester, a Vietnam Army veteran, after the event. "It is the same for me every year."
For the second consecutive year, Verga gave the keynote address, a combination of prepared thoughts on the meaning and importance of service preceded by extemporaneous thoughts on the moment.
In describing his thoughts on this Veterans Day, Verga also excoriated Vietnam protestors, whom he said left a "black mark" on the nation's history by disrespecting the veterans of that war when they returned home.
For City Councilor John "Gus" Foote, a fixture at Gloucester's Veterans Day events for decades, it was the last such event as a sitting councilor.
Foote said after the event that he was remembering those who never came back from the great wars and his grandson Ryan, who is in Gloucester on leave while serving in the Air Force.
Special recognition was offered during the ceremony for Lucia Amero, the assistant city veterans agent, who has been working as the sole member of her office since February.
In putting together the Cape Ann Military Family Support Group, Van Auken drew upon her experience as a mother of a soldier, and the knowledge of what families go through when their loved ones are fighting thousands of miles away.
Van Auken's daughter, Lt. Col. Kathryn Van Auken, a 1989 Gloucester High School graduate, has served in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
Lt. Col. Van Auken said yesterday that what her mother is doing for other soldiers is "incredible" and desperately needed, especially on Cape Ann, which is a long way from any army base and can be isolating for military families.
"The soldiers need to know their families are taken care of, to know that they have someone to lean on," Lt. Col. Van Auken said. "It is definitely easier to be the soldier deploying and more difficult to be the one at home."
In her time in Iraq, Lt. Col. Van Auken's work has included including searching for mass graves, reuniting members of Iraqi families separated by the fighting and protecting foreign dignitaries.
Of her three Bronze Star medals, one is for valor and actions after a convoy she was riding in was struck by a roadside bomb. Her parents didn't know the details of that incident until the medal arrived in their mail, an example of the unknown that military parents must face all the time and the need for support.
Asked what she thinks of on Veterans Day, Lt. Col.Van Auken said it has changed since she became an active soldier and described how current and past veterans frequently find themselves arguing over thanking each other, like diners fighting over a check.
"It has changed for me — now you have your own war stories to reflect on — now there are soldiers that I knew to honor," Lt. Col.Van Auken said. "We will need to be able to pay all of them back."
Patrick Anderson can be reached at 978-283-7000, x3455, or via e-mail at panderson@gloucestertimes.com
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