Veterans Day was different this year.
Many communities use this day to celebrate and honor their veterans by putting on local parades and hosting neighborhood-wide potlucks. But this year, many towns chose to cancel their planned events out of concern for the public health. In Manchester, New Hampshire, for example, local leaders canceled the town’s annual Veterans Day parade and moved its ceremony honoring those who served online, with residents able to watch the event via livestream, according to the New Hampshire Union Leader.
In California, several towns near San Diego chose to honor their veterans in person. But, the Paso Robles Daily News reported, at least one local cemetery asked loved ones to avoid gathering near the gravesites and honor the fallen instead by staying in their vehicles and driving through the cemetery.
Towns near Wilmington, North Carolina, chose to keep their Veterans Day ceremonies on the books, too. Large-scale events were canceled or scaled back, but Mike Allen, the mayor of Belville and an Army veteran, said it was important that the men and women who served get a chance to be seen and heard. Belville’s events were “much lower-key,” he told WECT 6, but they still served to remind the public of “the freedom and the labor that we’ve gotten from our veterans.”
Perhaps Belville had the right idea. Veterans Day doesn’t require large parades or festive barbecues, though those are certainly warranted. The purpose of this holiday is to remember those who have served and what they lost, to take pride in their heroism and show gratitude for their sacrifice. And if we can do that in smaller, more meaningful ways, then maybe we’ll realize that honoring our heroes is possible not just on Veterans Day but every day.
