More than 30 Swan Valley veterans and community members listened in silence as American Legion Post 63 Commander Edward Klassen rings the bell during the bell ceremony, Nov. 11 at 11:11 a.m.
Swan Valley Veteran Rich Wiseman won the quilt given away by the Swan Valley American Legion Post 63 Auxiliary after his wife's name was drawn. Wiseman laughed that in their 55 years of marriage, his wife Jill is "the lucky one" so she put her name in the drawing. Wiseman served from 1965-1969 as a Navy CB, working in construction. He was in Vietnam for two years. Wiseman is pictured behind the quilt made by Penny Johnson with the ladies of the Swan Valley American Legion Post 63 Auxiliary.
SWAN VALLEY – At 11:11 a.m., Nov. 11, the sound of a bell cut through the cold air as more than 30 veterans, their families and the Condon community gathered outside the Swan Valley Community Hall to honor veterans.
"All have given something, some have given all," said American Legion Post 63 Commander Edward Klassen.
The bell ringing ceremony is a national tradition that is practiced in the Swan Valley on Veterans Day. In Europe they rang the bell at the end of WWI in 1918. The Legion gives a 21 bell salute, the highest honors, and they ring one additional bell for each member of the community that has died in the last year.
"Those bells are to honor and to celebrate their lives," said Klassen. "For those that came home, they lived a long life. They got to be with their family and friends. They make this nation what it is today. No matter how you feel about your current situation it was designed and on the footsteps and on the marching orders of those that came before us."
Klassen shared the story about his first ship, affectionately named the "Danger Ranger."
"It literally caught on fire every day," said Klassen adding that it wasn't just little fires on the ship, it was the fuel station catching on fire. The year before he was assigned to the ship, 14 men died fighting a fire. "We called it the Danger Ranger and it fit the bill."
Klassen said that they played various songs as the ship would change course. When the ship pointed home, they played the "Lone Ranger."
"Out of all the songs, nothing felt the same as the Lone Ranger pounding through your head, 'we're headed home. It's time to march," Klassen said. "You really felt it in your heart."
The Swan Valley veterans in attendance fought in Vietnam, Desert Storm and Afghanistan.
"Those of us who have put our lives on the line, it was an honor and a privilege to do so," Klassen said. "Those that didn't have a choice, through the draft, still chose to fight so that their family, their friends, their nation could be what it is today. Your life is not only saved by Jesus, it was saved by those men who came before us."
Following the ceremony, those in attendance enjoyed a sack lunch provided by the Swan Valley American Legion Auxiliary Post 63.
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