The Webster County community observed Veterans Day 2024 with various activities Monday. Some local veterans began the day with a ruck march from the veterans memorial in Mathiston to the one at the Eupora Post Office. There, they joined others in Joe H. Moorhead VFW Post 3806ís Veterans Day ceremony at 11 a.m. Senior Vice Cmdr. Bill Forster welcomed everyone, and the Rev. Justin Davis, pastor of Grace Covenant Church in Maben, opened with prayer. East Webster High School band members Peyton Adams, Cael Fiebig and Bradley Forster then performed the national anthem on trumpet. Forster, in his remarks that followed, noted that Veterans Day is celebrated each year on Nov. 11 for veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces. Originally known as Armistice Day, the holiday was renamed Veterans Day in 1954. Also mentioning Memorial Day, a day reserved for mourning the fallen, he asked everyone to pause for a moment of silence to honor the fallen, services members who were held as prisoners of war and those missing in action. ìOn this auspicious day, 70 years after the renaming of this holiday, we are gathered here to celebrate our local veterans. We have served from the post-World War II/Korean War era up until even the most recent actions on six continents ó North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia,î Forster said. ìOur members, your neighbors, have flown helicopters in both medical and gun support missions. We have provided artillery fire, supported special operations missions and parachuted into a number of places. Among us are medics, Rangers, Special Forces, infantry, calvary, aviation technicians, naval personnel, and of course, Marines,î he continued. ìWe have members from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines. Ö Among us are member who have jumped from perfectly good airplanes, ruck marched an unreasonable number of miles because they had to and celebrated those same rucks today, because they wanted to. We have crawled across international boundaries under the cover of darkness. In contrast we have driven the streets of Baghdad with boldness. Members have both taken and preserved life.î Forster added, ìWe have gathered here today, to celebrate these members, those who came home. Returned to their communities, where many, to this day to still serve. We have members who returned home to be farmers, police officers, firefighters, construction workers, factory workers, salesmen, paramedics, pilots of medical helicopters, nurses, deacons, pastors ó this list is not all inclusive. ìOther persons you may see from time to time in your community who have served ó a local physician who was a pararescue jumper, there is a teacher/coach who recently deployed, one of my kidís school bus drivers who is a Marine, and countless others who go quietly unrecognized. In the local VFW post we have 117 members; there are 480 veterans in Webster County. ìAnd likely most important to many of us, we returned home to start families,î Forster stated. ìWe are fathers, mothers, grandparents. Some of our kids, our grandchildren continue this legacy ó personally, my son, Spc. Benjamin Forster, is a fourth-generation servicemember.î The speaker concluded, ìFor us, for you, today is a celebration of service. Service to our Lord, our country, our families and our communities. We stand here proud of this service to our nation and protection of this great democracy that we have. And simultaneously, we are proud of what we bring back to the community. What we give back to Webster County, Eupora, Bellefontaine, Mathiston, Walthall, Mantee.î Pat Denning, senior vice commander of Post 3806 Auxiliary, then gave the closing prayer for all veterans. Afterwards, veterans in attendance were invited to a lunch at the Whites Creek Lake pavilion and Post 2806 held a Veterans Day banquet that night at the post home.
