Veterans were honored from the north end to the south end of the Grand Strand this Veterans Day.
Dozens of people showed up for an event at North Myrtle Beach Memorial Gardens. The North Myrtle Beach High ROTC marched from the school to the gardens. The service also featured entertainment by the Reverend Ed Daniels and the Myrtle Beach Pipe Band.
Veterans at the service say they feel for the soldiers overseas right now, but there is a bright spot to their service. "I think the greatest thing is it brought recognition back. A lot of people lost particularly for the Korean War veterans and Vietnam War veterans, how they were treated and ignored so and so forth. Now that the Iraq War and Afghanistan, and things like that, has brought the highlights to people and its time to be recognized as such," said Bill Barnhart, US Navy.
Veterans presented three wreaths, one red, one white and one blue. They represented the truth and fidelity of our veterans, the love they have for our country, and purity of purpose.
In Myrtle Beach, the band "Festive Brass" entertained the group gathered at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center. The motorcycle group "Rolling Thunder" replaced the old POW-MIA flag with a new one, and they honored those still missing with a "missing man's table." That's a table set with a white cloth and a place setting for each branch of service in the US military.
The group prayed for peace and came together to sing "God Bless America."
The event was organized by the Grand Strand Patriotic Alliance and co-sponsored by the City of Myrtle Beach.
Businesses on the Grand Strand also did their part to thank the military. Applebee's restaurants across the country served up free meals to our veterans. Many of the vets we found at the Myrtle Beach Applebee's went there for lunch after attending one of the services mentioned above.
Daniel Tate, a US Army vet, was there and said he's grateful for all the support they get. "We do appreciate the thank you, but it was our honor to serve."
That message was a common theme we heard from veterans through the day at all the events.
Chilis, Golden Corral, Hooters, Subway and Krispy Kreme restaurants also had free meal deals for veterans.
Coast RTA, the Grand Strand's public transportation system, gave vets free rides today.
Thank you veterans!!
