It was standing-room only at VFW Post 4203 Saturday for Richmond County’s annual Veterans Day Observance.
The event, generally held across the road at Veterans Memorial Park, was moved indoors due to rainy weather, which also led to the cancelation of the Veterans Day Parade in downtown Rockingham.
The wreaths, which are usually placed by representatives of various veterans groups, were lined against the back wall.
Following an introduction by Carlton Hawkins of American Legion Post 147, fill-in singer Nikki Fletcher — whose late father was a Navy veteran — performed the national anthem and Zane Searcy — who placed third in the state American Legion Oratorical Contest in Chapel Hill in early March — led those gathered in reciting the pledge of allegiance.
Local governmental proclamations were then presented by Rockingham Mayor John Hutchinson and County Commissioner Robin Roberts, who is also president of the VFW Post 4203 Auxiliary.
The guest speaker for the service was Col. G. Bret Batdorff, an Apex native who enlisted in the National Guard while attending college in 1994. He currently serves as the chief circuit judge for the Army’s Second Judicial Circuit based at Fort Liberty (formerly Fort Bragg).
Batdorff recounted his initial enlistment and his first jump, where a fellow soldier was fixing his parachute and said, “I’ve got your back.”
“That wasn’t the first time or the last time that a fellow servicemember had my back,” Batdorff said. “As veterans and families of veterans, we’ve got each other’s back … We are a community of interconnected generations of veterans and families …
“No matter our branch of service, we are connected. No matter our MOS, we are connected. No matter our race, we are connected. No matter our gender, we are connected. No matter our background, we are connected. No matter our faith, we are connected. No matter our political beliefs, we are connected.
“In a world that all too often tries to tear us apart, we are and always will be, as veterans, connected.”
