Salisbury thanks those who served

SALISBURY — About 40 people gathered on a chilly morning at Town Hall for a Veterans Day ceremony Saturday, Nov. 11.

Chris Williams led the ceremony, assisted by Dave Bayersdorfer and Don Hurlbutt.

Bayersdorfer read from remarks by President John F. Kennedy on Veterans Day in 1961:

“Today we are here to celebrate and to honor and to commemorate the dead and the living, the young men who in every war since this country began have given testimony to their loyalty to their country and their own great courage.

“I do not believe that any nation in the history of the world has buried its soldiers further from its native soil than we Americans — or buried them closer to the towns in which they grew up.

“We celebrate this Veterans Day for a very few minutes, a few seconds of silence and then this country’s life goes on. But I think it most appropriate that we recall on this occasion, and on every other moment when we are faced with great responsibilities, the contribution and the sacrifice which so many men and their families have made in order to permit this country to now occupy its present position of responsibility and freedom, and in order to permit us to gather here together.”

Concluding the ceremony, Williams said, “Remember that behind every veteran is a family.

“They are just as important as the veterans who defend our country.”