Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, November 11, 1993 TAG: 9311110134
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Among events planned for the remainder of this year is a Veterans Day program this morning at 10:30 a.m. at William Byrd High School in Vinton.
This Veterans Day also marks another major milestone for veterans of a world war - the 75th anniversary of the end of World War I.
As part of the ongoing World War II commemoration, a massing-of-the-colors service will be conducted Dec. 5 at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Salem.
The event, coordinated by the Military Order of the World Wars, is a unique patriotic and religious event that amounts to a blessing of the colors.
It will bring together a wide variety of local organizations - military, civic, police and schools - that regularly display flags.
As part of the 50th anniversary commemoration, veterans and others gathered for a ceremony this past weekend at Old Dominion Memorial Gardens, a veterans' cemetery on Virginia 604 south of Roanoke.
Despite cold weather, roughly 60 people attended that event, said Norman Elmore, a World War II veteran from Roanoke who is working on the anniversary commemoration.
The local events planned by the Veterans Council, which will occur periodically through 1995, are a part of a national 50th anniversary commemoration of World War II being coordinated by the U.S. Defense Department.
The Roanoke County resolution recognizes that many Roanoke Valley residents fought in World War II and returned here to live.
"By remembering and commemorating the anniversary of World War II, we not only honor the veterans who fought in that war and the people who died during it, but we also remember the horror and sacrifice experienced during that time as we look for ways to keep the peace in the future," the resolution states.
by CNB