The Preble County Fair kicked off on Saturday, July 27, with a ceremony remembering and honoring area veterans and U.S. Armed Forces members for their service and sacrifice. Randy Hembree, served as the morning’s special speaker.
Eddie Mowen Jr. | The Register-Herald
EATON — The Preble County Fair kicked off on Saturday, July 27, with a ceremony remembering and honoring area veterans and U.S. Armed Forces members for their service and sacrifice.
Preble County Veterans Services Peer Support Specialist Josh Berry welcomed everyone to the ceremony in the grandstands, and introduced PCVS Executive Director Keith Carr, who led those in attendance in the invocation and Pledge of Allegiance.
Randy Hembree, served as the morning’s special speaker.
“I’m a U.S. Navy veteran and the Commander of the Preble County Disabled American Veterans Chapter Number Four,” Hembree said in introducing himself. “We’re here to honor our service members and remember their sacrifices they have made, they have made, and the courage it takes to defend honor, duty and country.”
“We’re here today to honor our heroes, to remember their achievements, their courage and their dedication, and to say thank you for their sacrifices, thinking of the heroes who joined us in this ceremony today and those who are here only in spirit.
“A person can’t help feeling awe by the enormity of what we encounter,” Hembree said. “We stand in the midst of patriots and family and friends of those who have nobly served.”
All veterans and service members present were asked to stand.
“Thank you for answering the call,” Hembree said. “You have made our armed forces the most respected in the world.”
“I’d also like to ask all family members of any service member to stand,” Hembree said. “We know you have lived through difficult times and often taken the heavy load to keep the home fires burning. Thank you for what you’ve done.”
“The service members we honor today come from all walks of life, but they share several fundamental qualities,” he continued. “They possess courage, pride, determination, selflessness, dedication to duty and integrity – all the qualities needed to serve a cause larger than oneself. Many of them didn’t ask to leave their home to fight on distant battlefields. Many don’t even volunteer. They don’t go to war because they love fighting. They were called to be part of something bigger than oneself. They were ordinary people who responded in extraordinary times. They rose to the nation’s call because they wanted to protect a nation which has given us so much. Since the first shots at Lexington and Concord were fired in our Revolutionary War, American men and women have been answering the call to duty. Millions of Americans have fought and died on battlefields here and abroad to defend our freedoms and way of life today, troops continue to make the ultimate sacrifice, and even as we lose troops, more Americans step forward to say, ‘I’m ready to serve.’ They follow in the footsteps of generations of fine Americans.”
Gold Star family members were also asked to stand and be recognized.
“We have awarded medals to many soldiers, added their names to monuments and named buildings after them to honor them for their bravery. But nothing can ever replace the hole left behind by a fallen service member, and no number of metals and ribbons can comfort the ones left behind,” Hembree said. “Today, we gather to remember, to honor and to pay gratitude to those who have served our country. Our gathering is just one small spark in a flame of pride that burns across the nation today and every day. It’s not a lot, but it is one small way we can honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice so that we can live in freedom.”
“Your presence here today is a tribute to those lost troops and to their families,” he told the Gold Star families. “It is a way to say we remember our soldiers who shivered and starved through the winter at Valley Forge, to the Doughboy crouched in the muddy trenches of France, to the platoon who patrolled the hazy jungle of Vietnam and the young men and women patrolling the mountains of Afghanistan, and all servicemen and women serving all over the world. We remember and honor them.”
The Veterans Memorial Ceremony led into the annual Preble County Fair Parade, which followed as it entered the grandstands.
Reach Eddie Mowen Jr. at 937-683-4061 and follow on Twitter @emowenjr.
