Veterans honored during Monday ceremony
Published 9:59 am Wednesday, November 13, 2024
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A large group of Selma and Dallas County residents converged on Memorial Stadium in front of the World War II memorial and eternal flame to recognize and celebrate Veterans Day.
Retired 1st Sgt. Aaron Roper, who serves as Selma’s tax collector, addressed the crowd as the keynote speaker. He invited VFW Post 3016 commander Dennis Doherty to come up and demonstrate how to do a salute.
“The ultimate respect that is exchanged from soldier to soldier, from military member to military member is the actual hand salute,” Roper said. “Today as a community, we get an opportunity to stand together. It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter your color, it doesn’t matter your creed, it doesn’t matter your religion. There’s some things that we are united for, and there’s some things that we will continue being united for as in no matter what. I say to each one of these veterans that are here today, I salute you. I thank you for everything you did in order to make it easy for me to serve.”
The Southside High School Junior ROTC presented the colors during the event. The Selma City Schools combined choirs performed the national anthem and sang “God Bless America.”
Several community leaders also placed wreaths and flowers at the memorial listing the names of local fallen soldiers.
The event concluded with the playing of taps, and the Selma Rotary Club and others provided food and refreshments for the veterans and attendees.
