Hundreds gather to honor veterans

For all they give, veterans ask for very little in return, a retired U.S. Navy admiral said.

"If killed, they want their remains returned and treated with dignity and respect. If wounded, they want and deserve the very best medical care we can give them," retired Rear Adm. Noah Long told more than 700 people Wednesday during the Veterans Day ceremony at Chattanooga National Cemetery.

"Others who serve simply want their service to be recognized and supported by the American people," he said.

One veteran recognized during the ceremony waited 64 years for his honor.

Former U.S. Army Sgt. Herman Ottinger, of Chattanooga, received a Bronze Star Medal for his service feeding fellow soldiers during the Allied march through Europe in World War II.

Mr. Ottinger recalled arriving on Normandy's Omaha Beach three days after the D-Day landing in June 1944.

"There were already white crosses up on the beach with dogtags hanging on them," he said.

At the cemetery ceremony, 50 veterans groups were represented, from local Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion posts to the Military Order of the Purple Heart and American Gold Star Mothers chapters.

A cold wind whipped unit, service and American flags throughout the ceremony as representatives from various veterans organizations stood holding the flags.

The ceremony included speeches, honors, patriotic songs, a 21-gun salute and taps played on a trumpet. The service ended as the crowd turned to watch the hoisting of flags in the Circle of Honor atop the highest point in the cemetery.

Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps cadets from Soddy-Daisy and Red Bank high schools stood in separate formations. The Soddy-Daisy group also helped direct traffic.

Rear Adm. Long reminded the crowd that, when he and other veterans of the Vietnam War returned home, "there were no parades, there were no public gatherings."

"Many were scorned, most were simply ignored," he said. "It hurt."

But decades after the conflict, those same veterans came "out of their shells" and made a promise, he said.

"We have collectively vowed to never again allow our nation to treat our veterans the way we were treated," he said to a standing, applauding crowd.

FAST FACTS

Veterans Day originated as Armistice Day on Nov. 11, 1919 on the first anniversary of the end of World War I.

Congress passed a resolution in 1926 for an annual observance and Nov. 11 became a national holiday beginning in 1938.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed legislation in 1954 to change the name to Veterans Day as a way to honor those who served in all American wars.

BY THE NUMBERS

There were 23.2 million military veterans in the United States in 2008. Of those:

* 18.3 million were non-Hispanic white

* 1.8 million were female

* 2.3 million were black

* 1.1 million were Hispanic

* 160,000 were American Indian or Alaska native

* 27,000 were native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander

* 9.2 million veterans were over the age of 65

* 7.8 million were Vietnam-era veterans

Source: U.S. Census Bureau