ST. GEORGE — SunRiver St. George honored its resident veterans and those in the broader community with song, stories and commemoration in a touching ceremony Wednesday morning.
Flags were raised, guns were fired, and a Navy trainer jet made several low passes over SunRiver’s Veterans Honor Park. Approximately 300 people turned out for the event to celebrate veterans and their service to the United States.
President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed Nov. 11 as Armistice Day in 1919, commemorating the end of World War I at 11 a.m. on Nov. 11, 1918. The event expanded into Veterans Day to honor all veterans in 1947, following World War II.
Veterans of all branches of the service were present at SunRiver, including those from as far back as World War II. Several were in full-dress uniform, including Bryan Butas, who served as a Marine from 1989-1993, seeing action in Iraq, Yugoslavia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
“What is Veterans Day? It means freedom,” Butis said. “It means our country as it is today.”
St. George Mayor Jon Pike spoke as part of the program.
“(It’s) just a fantastic opportunity to celebrate and thank our veterans,” Pike said.
Veterans and others attending said they were impressed with the program.
“It brings back a lot of memories,” said U.S. Navy veteran Harold Platt, of St. George, who served in the Pacific theater in World War II. “They had (an) aircraft carrier service unit there (in Guam), and we were training pilots.”
The most common phrase heard after the ceremony was: “Thank you. Thank you for your service.”
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A Navy trainer jet makes a pass over the crowd at SunRiver, St. George, Utah, Nov. 11, 2015 | Photo by Ric Wayman, St. George News
Bryan Butas at SunRiver, St. George, Utah, Nov. 11, 2015 | Photo by Ric Wayman, St. George News
Veterans are honored at SunRiver's Veterans Honor Park, St. George, Utah, Nov. 11, 2015 | Photo by Ric Wayman, St. George News
Veterans are honored at SunRiver's Veterans Honor Park, St. George, Utah, Nov. 11, 2015 | Photo by Ric Wayman, St. George News
Veterans are honored at SunRiver's Veterans Honor Park, St. George, Utah, Nov. 11, 2015 | Photo by Ric Wayman, St. George News
Veterans are honored at SunRiver's Veterans Honor Park, St. George, Utah, Nov. 11, 2015 | Photo by Ric Wayman, St. George News
Veterans are honored at SunRiver's Veterans Honor Park, St. George, Utah, Nov. 11, 2015 | Photo by Jill W. Klausen, St. George News
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2015, all rights reserved.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
"I wrote my first word when I was very young. I enjoyed this so much I decided to write many more words."
A native of Pacific Palisades, Calif., Ric was bitten by the news bug as a staff writer and associate editor of the Palisades High School Tideline. After school he entered the media as a radio personality, both playing music and reporting news. Ric moved to St. George in the 1980s and was the morning personality on all three major AM stations in town. An avid amateur radio operator, Ric is looking for a good band to play in, as he plays keyboards, bass and guitar. Ric, who currently is working on developing a lifestyle that doesn't require his presence, lives in the center of St. George with his partner Terri, two snoring dogs and too many neurotic cats.