Mount Kisco marked Veterans Day on Nov. 11 with a ceremony honoring the men and women who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces.
It began on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, inspired by the WWI armistice that inspired the observance.
Organized by Moses Taylor Jr. American Legion Post 136, the ceremony included remarks from representatives of local veterans organizations, prayers and wreath presentations by the American Legion, its auxiliary and the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Father Stephen Clark, pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Mt. Kisco, led the gathering in prayer and spoke about his own service in the Marine Corps.
A 1976 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Clark served 14 years in the Marines, including nine years on active duty. A helicopter pilot and flight instructor, he completed three overseas deployments and accumulated more than 2,200 hours of flight time.
“My experience was an experience of a lifetime, working with men and women who were willing to sacrifice daily in order to serve, protect, defend the freedoms we enjoy in this great country,” Clark said.
He also reflected on the personal cost of military service.
“I was fortunate not to be involved in combat, but I did lose friends in Lebanon and Iraq,” he said.
Clark, who has been a priest for 36 years, credited the example of Navy chaplains with inspiring his vocation.
“I became a priest because of the example of Navy chaplains and what they did,” he said. “In fact, the former Chief of Chaplains of the Naval Academy, who later became the Chief of Chaplains of the Navy, also became the Cardinal Archbishop of New York, John Cardinal O’Connor. He was the one that ordained me.”
You can find a video of the entire ceremony here.
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