Honoring courage and sacrifice

A downpour and a driving wind did not halt the Veterans Day ceremony at New Bern National Cemetery on Wednesday, as about a dozen people gathered with state and federal dignitaries to honor the region’s military members.

U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield, D-N.C., and first gentleman Bob Eaves were among those who participated in the annual wreath-laying ceremony at the cemetery, which has been the final resting place for many military members for more than a century.

Eaves, the husband of Gov. Bev Perdue, called Wednesday “a day to celebrate courage and honor sacrifice.” He read the names of more than a dozen service members from the region who have died in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Among them were Army Sgt. Leonard D. Simmons of New Bern, who was killed in August 2003, and Army Specialist Christopher S. Honaker of Havelock, who died in July 2007.

Butterfield thanked everyone who endured the weather, including the New Bern High School chorus and the Honor Guard from Cherry Point Marine air station.

Butterfield, who spoke earlier in the day at a New Bern veterans’ luncheon, left for Goldsboro and a veterans’ roundtable later Wednesday.

“We have an obligation to honor our veterans who sacrificed so much,” Butterfield said. “The American people have such an appreciation for that sacrifice, and we have an obligation to say ‘Thank you.’ ”

Butterfield said the day’s weather would not have kept him from honoring the First District’s veterans.

“I thought of the servicemen and women who have fought the fight in much worse conditions than this,” he said.

Patti Harrison, an English teacher at New Bern High School, was among those who attended the ceremony. Her daughter, Kathleen, is in the chorus, which sung the National Anthem.

“I’m also here to honor the veterans,” the teacher said.

She knows about military life and sacrifice. Her father, Chief Master Sgt. C.G. Smith, was in the Air Force for 30 years.

When she was in grade school, her father went to Vietnam for a tour of duty.

“It was probably scary for my mother, who had four children at home, including a newborn,” she said. “He (her father) missed the first year of my brother’s life. That’s part of the sacrifice.”

Susan Luper was there with her daughter, Dana, a chorus member.

“It’s important to show honor and respect for the veterans and also for the families they left behind, so they know that their sacrifice is not forgotten,” the elder Luper said.