Veterans Day “means a lot to everyone in so many different ways,” according to John Saltzman, quartermaster of VFW Post 386 in Cape May. “Patriotism for our country, for our loved ones back home.”
Observed annually on Nov. 11, Veterans Day was initiated Nov. 11, 1918 to mark the end of hostilities during World War I.
The national holiday honors veterans of the U.S. armed forces and coincides with holidays in other countries, including Armistice Day and Remembrance Day, both of which also mark the end of World War I.
Veterans Day is distinct from Memorial Day, which specifically honors those who have died while serving their country.
Saltzman, a veteran of wars in Afghanistan (2001) and Iraq (2003), served as a door gunner on a helicopter and was part of the longest amphibious raid in Marine Corps history.
“There’s a lot of different experiences, especially generationally,” he said, listing conflicts from World War II to Korea, Vietnam and others. “We’ve all evolved along with it. For some of us, it’s passing it down to our kids, raising that flag on Veterans Day and Memorial Day. Passing along those values to the next generation is just as important if not more important than anything we do.”
To help in that effort, the post works with schoolchildren to write essays for the Voice of Democracy.
“We take part in that, raising scholarship money for local kids furthering their education — we do our part with the community,” Saltzman said.
The post also hosts residents of the Vineland veterans home for a luncheon “to let them know that they’re not forgotten.”
“We want them to know their sacrifices are appreciated and we are not going to forget about them,” he said.
Saltzman said they are currently standing with members of the U.S. Coast Guard, who may stop receiving pay next month if the government shutdown continues.
Saltzman said the post has raised enough money to host Coast Guard members for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner.
“The Coast Guard is our family and we have taken on a role to help out whenever we can,” Saltzman said.
Bill Archer, commander of American Legion Post 239 in Upper Township and the Cape May County American Legion, said for him, it’s a day to “think about battle buddies, all the people I was with.”
He said Memorial Day, a tribute to those who paid the ultimate price for the country’s freedom, “reminds me of grandfathers and uncles.”
Veterans Day, on the other hand, celebrates the efforts of every enlisted man and woman.
Like Saltzman, Archer said the experience of serving — and returning home — is different depending on the circumstances.
“I appreciate the fact that I have been received better than the Vietnam veterans,” Archer said. “When I came back from Iraq, we had troop greeters that hugged us. Most of our members are Vietnam veterans who got spit on.”
Archer joined the Army in 1979 and served as a first lieutenant. He was away from the service for 20 years before rejoining to take part in Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2007-08, when he spent time in Kuwait and Iraq as a battalion supply sergeant before retiring in 2019.
Archer said the thing he enjoys most about Veterans Day is seeing the younger generation taking part, such as Scouts placing flags on graves.
Commander Michael Morrissey of Ocean City VFW Post 6650, who left the Army as a sergeant E5, said Veterans Day should be celebrated every day, noting some groups get an entire month.
“If it wasn’t for us, all those organizations that have months dedicated to them is because of what veterans did for them,” he said.
Morrissey, who served in Germany in 1968 and Vietnam the next three years, said veterans don’t want gratitude as much as they want “people to understand what we did.”
“We left our families and went to war; our families missed us,” he said, noting his daughter was born while he was overseas. “Veterans do a lot for this country and I don’t need a pat on the back — they paid us and it was an honor to do it.”
Morrissey said he is grateful that Ocean City has such a strong respect for the veterans.
“It wasn’t easy,” he said, noting his father was a World War II veteran and his brother served at the same time as him. “We were taught that that was what you were supposed to do. In Ocean City, people get that.”
Morrissey said the day is time for veterans “to think of buddies, people to think of their families.”
“They should have veterans month, not a day,” he said.
Somers Point is a very veteran-friendly community, with multiple organization posts and monument.
In 2015, several groups worked in conjunction to erect a monument to the silent service.
The memorial’s design is centered around an authentic World War II-era Mach 14 torpedo mounted on an elevated brick pedestal.
During World War II, 52 U.S. submarines were lost, the majority due to enemy action. More than 3,500 men went down with those submarines.
The U.S. Submarine Force suffered the highest percentage of lives sacrificed in all branches of the U.S. military service during the war. Of the 16,000 men who served on those submarines, one out of every four was lost.
There are 162 United States Submarine Veterans Inc. bases throughout the country with 13,000 members.
Somers Point resident Tom Innocente, commander of the USSVI, Egg Harbor Township base, said Veterans Day is all about “lest we forget.”
“If you don’t remember, you’re doomed to repeat the past,” he said. “We get together and support all the efforts of all who served in all the wars.”
Innocente, who served five years on conventional and nuclear-powered submarines in the western Pacific Ocean and later for 28 years as a criminal investigator in the Army Reserves, said it is a day to celebrate.
He said submarine service is unique because “every man depends on every other man every minute of every day to maintain the integrity of the ship — if one man doesn’t do his job, 100 men die.”
“The is very little slack in a submarine, as far as insignificant jobs. Everyone is a specialist in some regard, and does that every minute of every day,” Innocente said.
Bob Marzulli, commander of American Legion Post 524 in Ocean City, said the day is about “veterans serving veterans,” adding that is the post’s mantra.
“We take care of veterans through meal programs. No veteran goes unanswered if they have a problem or a question,” Marzulli said.
The Marine Corps veteran from 1970-72 called it a day to reflect on his service “and the people I met and lost.”
“It’s a humbling day,” he said. “One percent of the nation has served, and I consider myself to be very fortunate that I was one of that 1 percent.”
Ocean City will celebrate Veterans Day at 11 a.m. Nov. 11 at the Ocean City Tabernacle, 550 Wesley Ave.
Patriots Park is the site of Veterans Day ceremonies each year. Somers Point’s annual Veterans Day Service will be held at 11 a.m. Nov. 11 at Patriots Park, First Street and Bethel Road.
Upper Township’s ceremony is scheduled for 10 a.m. Nov. 11 in the Sergeant William Godfrey Memorial Park at Osprey Point, 1731 Route 9 in Seaville.
Complex resident Lee Rominiecki, a U.S. Army veteran, will host the service. Army veteran Steve Cole will be the guest speaker.
Cape May will mark Veterans Day at 11 a.m. Nov. 11 at Soldiers and Sailors Park, Columbia Avenue and Gurney Street.
Lower Township has scheduled its 8th annual Veterans Day Parade for Nov. 8 in Villas. The parade is set to begin at 11 a.m. at the Villas Fire Department and travel south, ending at Lower Township Municipal Hall.
By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Cape May Star and Wave
