PORT ANGELES — This year’s Veterans Day celebration at Port Angeles High School auditorium marked a change from tradition, moving from its regular site at U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Port Angeles due a lack of appropriations from the federal government during the shutdown.
Organizer Holly Rowan, a retired U.S. Marine Corps veteran and president of the Clallam County Veterans Association, said the switch was made about three weeks ago.
While the high school auditorium didn’t have the same scale as the air station’s hangar, the essential pieces all fell into place, she said.
About 200 people attended Tuesday’s ceremony, which honored veterans from the armed forces and the U.S. Merchant Marine.
The high school’s Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps presented the colors, and Nancy Zimmerman, commander and chaplain of American Legion Post 62 in Sequim, gave the invocation.
The Port Angeles High School band led a medley saluting the U.S. Army, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Navy, the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Coast Guard, while the high school choir, Grand Olympics Chorus and Juan de Fuca Harmony contributed musical performances.
Veterans who served in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Persian Gulf, Vietnam and Korea stood to be recognized.
Guest speaker retired Capt. John Hakanson of the U.S. Navy Chaplain Corps said veterans embodied a rare willingness to surrender control and “lay down [their] life so that I can live free,” adding that military service begins with the conscious choice to put oneself in harm’s way for others.
Hakanson, who has lived in Clallam County since 2020, said a bond connects veterans across conflicts and branches.
“We have the highest concentrations of veterans in the entire state of Washington, and it shows,” he said. “We’re indeed blessed to be amongst each other, because you have no better neighbor, no better friend, no better colleague than somebody who stood up and served their country.”
The Mount Olympus Detachment 897 of the Marine Corps League Honor Guard followed Hakanson’s remarks with a three-volley rifle salute.
Bagpiper Rick McKenzie, a retired Coast Guard veteran, closed the ceremony with a rendition of “Amazing Grace,” as he made his way up the west aisle of the auditorium.
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Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached by email at paula.hunt@peninsuladailynews.com.
Bob Saring, sergeant at arms at American Legion Post 26 in Port Townsend, leads Benny Fuehrer, 11, as he carries the American flag to open the Veterans Day event on Tuesday at the legion post in Port Townsend. (Steve Mullensky/for Peninsula Daily News)
