By Tara Fischer

Staff Writer

The Worcester County Veterans Memorial in Ocean Pines held a ceremony on Veterans Day to honor those who have served in all branches of the United States military.

Michelle Winemiller, a Veterans Memorial Foundation Board member, emceed the event. Miller spent 11 years in the US Air Force in intelligence and 19 years as an Air Force civilian employee, noted a press release issued by the Ocean Pines Association.

“Veterans Day is a day to recognize those who wore the uniform and returned home,” Winemiller said. “To all the veterans here today, whether you served at home or abroad, in wartime or peace, whether you proudly served in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, or the Space Force, thank you for raising your hand and swearing the oath. You join a legion of patriots who honorably served and put service before self.”

Students from Seaside Christian Academy were present at the ceremony, where they recited the United States Pledge of Allegiance and later sang America the Beautiful. The Delmarva Chorus also performed a medley of anthems for each branch of service, and poetry was spoken in honor of the veterans and their families.

US Air Force veteran Robert Hanson, who was the event’s guest speaker, attended the Nov. 11 ceremony. Hanson is an Eastern Shore native who enlisted in the Air Force Security Forces in 1971 and served until 1974 in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. Later, according to an OPA press release, he served in the Air Force Reserves at Dover Air Force Base in Maryland and was an advisor to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. The veteran is now a Department of Veterans and Military Families commissioner.

Hanson concluded his speech by reading a quote from an unknown author on the impact military members have had on the United States of America.

“Freedom is not free,” he read. “Remember, it was a veteran, not a journalist, who gave us freedom of the press. It was a veteran, not a poet, who gave us freedom of speech. It was a veteran, not a campus organizer, who gave us the freedom to demonstrate. It was a veteran- those who salute the flag, serve beneath the flag, and whose coffins are draped with the flag who purchased our freedom.”

Prior to the Veterans Day observance, the Veterans Memorial Foundation and OPA officials opened the park’s newly constructed pavilion with a ribbon cutting. The gazebo will serve as a place for family and friends to gather during a visit to the remembrance site and as a holding space and classroom for the hundreds of fifth-grade students who come to the memorial each year to learn about the military, the United States flag, and the country’s history.

The Worcester County Veterans Memorial broke ground on Veterans Day in 2004. Since its establishment, the park has been the site of holiday celebrations, such as Memorial Day and other military remembrance occasions. The primary part of the space is a  “large circle of brick pavers honoring U.S. military men and women, surrounded by brick-wall monuments for each branch of the U.S. Armed Forces and flags for each branch flying high in the air,” an OPA press release said.

“It is a really special place, and it is your place,” Winemiller said.