In Orleans, A Day Of Remembrance

ORLEANS – Last year, Jeff Smith appeared at the town’s annual Veterans’ Day ceremony in full service dress. But on Saturday, he dressed in what he called “the uniform of the everyday veteran.”

For Smith, a retired Master Petty Chief Officer with the U.S. Coast Guard, his attire represented a “purposeful decision.”

“Today I stand before you in the uniform of the everyday veteran,” he said in his keynote address. “Everyday veterans who serve as the connection to those who stood at Concord and Lexington to those who stand the watch this very day.”

Residents turned out to Veterans’ Memorial Park Saturday morning in observance of Veterans’ Day. The ceremony, staged by the town’s Veterans’ and Memorial Day committee, also included a speech by retired U.S. Army Specialist Andrew DeLory; a benediction from retired Lt. Commander Alan Milmot of the U.S. Navy; and music from the Nauset Regional Middle School Band.