Brazos Valley Veterans Memorial holds Veterans Day Ceremony

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) – A cloudy sky and a little rain didn’t stop the Brazos Valley Veterans Memorial Veterans Day Ceremony on Sunday.

The ceremony took place at Veterans Park under the American Pavilion. It was originally supposed to take place under the Louis L. Adam Memorial Plaza but the location was changed because of the chance of rain. Patriotic music was a song by the Brazos Valley Chorale and the Fightin’ Texas Aggie Band played the national anthem. Dr. James H. Willbank gave this year’s keynote address.

During the ceremony, the names of veterans, whose names were added to the Honor Wall were read aloud.

“Each name has a story of service to the country and all those stories are different, different times, different eras, different circumstances, but every story represents someone who wore the cloth of the country took the oath, and put their name on the line,” Steve Beachy, member of the Brazos Valley Memorial Board of directors said.

The ceremony was moved from Saturday to Sunday because of the Texas A&M football game, but the change didn’t deter people from coming out to pay tribute to those who served and have served.

“We’re very happy with the turnout,” Beachy said. “The weather was iffy, but it turned out fine. We had a great turnout I don’t think there were any seats left, but there was standing room. Great turnout and great participation,” Beachy said.

Beachy said events like Sundays get more important every year as fewer and fewer people get involved in the military.

“I believe it’s now less than one percent of the population that serves in the military,” Beachy said. “Without them, it would be very precarious for our country. So one way to do that is to thank the veterans and their families for the service they put in.”

A rifle salute by the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets and taps from the fightin’ Texas Aggie Band Bugler closed out the ceremony.

“The public needs to recognize that needs to be an essential function of the government to support the veterans after they serve,” Beachy said. “Veteran suicide is a tragedy and it should be stopped. Anyway that you can help to prevent that and support the veterans when they need it, they supported the country when it needed them, so we need to support them.”