American veterans, their families and friends remembered fallen soldiers and honored those still fighting, at a U.S. Veterans Day commemoration in South Pattaya.
Servicemen and members of U.S. Veterans of Foreign Warts Post 9876 met Nov. 11 at the Hog’s Breath Saloon on Sukhumvit Soi 46/3 for a ceremony and luncheon.
The ceremony began exactly at 11:11 a.m. on the day the U.K calls Remembrance Day and marks the end of World War I.
VFW commander Eric Larsen, deputy commander Ron Hunter and Chaplain Mike Warner opened the event with the chaplain offering a prayer for the well-being of all veterans who currently are in harm’s way and a prayer for their sale return home.
American veterans pose for a group photo at the Hogs Breath Saloon in South Pattaya as they remember fallen soldiers and honor those still fighting.
A moment of silence was then marked to acknowledge the millions of veterans who gave their lives in the name of freedom in the U.S.
The buffet followed, provided by VFW Post 9876 and the American Veterans’ Wives Club.
“I joined (the military), as most all of you, because of a patriotic duty to give back what we saw as the best way of life on our planet,” Hunter said. “To uphold freedom and defend this country so that the rest of our citizens can enjoy the same freedoms we, as Americans, have had for the past 240 years. Military people do not fight because we hate what is in front of us; we fight because we love what is behind us.”
“There is no higher calling than to put yourself in harm’s way for the sake of others,” he continued. “There are truly evil people in this world and today we are to remember those who stand and say, ‘Thou shalt not pass’. God bless our United States Service Members and God Bless America.”
