On Sunday, the Crown Point community gathered to honor one of our country’s most important and solemn holidays, Veteran’s Day. American Legion Post 20 partnered with the City of Crown Point to host a ceremony within the iconic Old Courthouse to recognize the service and sacrifice of veterans across the country.
Crown Point is a community deeply respectful of veterans and it frequently hosts ceremonies honoring past and present servicemen and women. The city is currently host to the “Embracing Peace” sculpture by Seward Johnson that recreates the iconic “Kissing Couple” photograph taken after the end of World War II, as well as the Wall Of Heroes, upon which the names of service members are engraved. U.S. Congressman Pete Visclosky and Crown Point Mayor David Uran joined the American Legion in offering words for Sunday’s event. The Mayor’s daughter is currently serving in the Air Force, so the ceremony was close to his heart.
“As a mayor, I’m honored to be up here and as a father, I’m so proud of what my daughter’s accomplished already,” Mayor Uran said. “These veterans are the men and women who serve each and every day to protect our freedoms and ability to do things like assembling as we are here today. We truly thank them, as we stand here united as one.”
Like Mayor Uran, many people with family members who served or have loved ones overseas gathered together. Many attendees were themselves veterans, in conflicts from World War II all the way to our present wars in the Middle-East. Wayne Pittman, a Marine veteran who served in the Korean War, is a lifelong member of the Crown Point Legion, but Sunday’s ceremony was the first he attended.
“I decided to come out on this beautiful morning and honor our veterans that aren’t here; they’re the heroes,” Pittman said. “I think that a lot of us vets didn’t get the homecoming like those in World War II. The Korean vets and Vietnam vets didn’t have that. I think it’s time for cities and everybody to honor the veterans, especially those that never came back.”
Congressman Visclosky is a longtime supporter of measures advocating for veterans and the military. In his address, he highlighted the continued service that veterans continue to provide even after they finish active duty, often as public servants such as police officers. The congressman also made note of one sacrifice veterans made that is often forgotten: time.
“It is right that we honor those who gave their lives for our freedom and those who suffered psychological or physical harm, but also those veterans who came back home,” Visclosky said. “During their service, whether it was two years or a career, they gave us the time of their life. As each day passed that they could not get back themselves, they gave to us.”
