About 2,000 people gathered with umbrellas and ponchos at the Kanapaha Park memorial to celebrate Veterans Day Wednesday.
The celebration was held to honor the veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan, said James Lynch, director of Alachua County Veterans Services.
Capt. Jonathan Pruden, a wounded veteran of the Iraq war, spoke of the sacrifice veterans and their families made.
“Whether during war or peace, all veterans sacrificed their personal freedoms,” Pruden said. “I can tell you story after story of families who have given up homes, jobs and communities to follow their loved ones to trauma centers at Walter Reed.”
A Walk Through Time Memorial was unveiled to honor six Alachua County residents who died in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
The families of four of the men — Christopher Neiberger, Donald Vincent, John Rivero and Jeffrey Wershow — solemnly unveiled the memorial. The other two men — Tomorio Burkett and Raymond Jones Jr. — were not represented because Veterans Services was unable to contact their families in time for the ceremony, Lynch said.
Two veterans from World War II were also honored. Col. John Price and Sgt. Domenick Moretti were given Legion of Honor awards for their assistance in the liberation of France on D-Day.
According to Lynch, Price and Moretti were not able to make it to the official ceremony in South Florida because of their health, so the French government was going to mail the awards to them until Veterans Services acted.
“We thought they deserved more than that,” Lynch said.
Price stood silently and Moretti sat patiently in his wheelchair as the awards were presented to them.
Although the event focused on past achievements, Sgt. James Brown got to show heroism when a brown Humvee military vehicle began to roll downhill with a 9-year-old inside.
Irena Melvin was in front of the vehicle to take a picture of her son, Kile, when she realized it was heading toward her.
“I looked up, and his eyes were wide open,” Melvin said. “I don’t even want to know what happened.”
Brown jumped inside and quickly pulled the break to prevent a catastrophe.
“I am thankful that the soldier was able to hit the break in time,” Melvin said.
Others stayed safely on the ground as they looked up and pointed to the three World War II vintage aircrafts, which flew over the audience in a triangle formation before the start of the celebration. Everyone at the celebration joined in for a moment of silence in honor of the Fort Hood victims.
Organizations like the American Red Cross, the Young Marines and the U.S. Army pitched tents around the park to provide more information about those organizations. Gainesville High School had tents to fundraise for their programs by selling hot dogs, hamburgers and refreshments.
