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February 13, 2012

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Henderson honors families in Veterans Day event

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Kyle B. Hansen

Members of the Blue Star Mothers organization listen to Henderson City Councilwoman Debra March give the keynote address Saturday at the Henderson Veterans Day Ceremony.

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Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009 | 3:44 p.m.

Henderson Veterans Day Ceremony

Jessica Vanek, 10, sings the National Anthem while members of the Basic High School Junior ROTC program hold the flag at the Henderson Veterans Day Ceremony Saturday. Launch slideshow »

Henderson held a Veterans Day Ceremony a couple days early on Saturday morning to honor people who served in the military and add six names to the Veterans Memorial Wall.

The unofficial theme of the event was not just remembering those who served in the armed forces, but also the family members who supported them.

“I’m reminded that for every name that’s on that wall that we honor today, we must not forget that there are mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, wives and husbands and children who were left behind to bear the burden of freedom’s sacrifice,” Councilwoman Debra March said in the keynote address.

March is intimately aware of those sacrifices herself, she said, because her son is a former Army Ranger who served four deployments, two in Iraq and two in Afghanistan.

“I know the sacrifice these young men and women make to serve our country. I also know the sacrifices that their families make, knowing that every time their loved one leaves may be the last time they see them,” she said. “I know the sleepless nights these families face, wondering if they’ll ever see their child again, wondering what they’re doing and if they’re safe.”

The Basic High School Junior ROTC presented the colors at the ceremony and read the names of the people who were added to the memorial wall, which lists Henderson residents who served in the military.

Among the crowd who gathered in the amphitheater in the Henderson Events Plaza, which is below the memorial adjacent to City Hall, was a group of Blue Star Mothers, women who have or had children serving in the military.

The mothers are part of the fourth Nevada chapter of the national organization, which formed about six months ago to serve Henderson and Boulder City.

“I think it’s important to honor our veterans and never forget,” said Marilyn Yzaguirre, whose son is at Vanderbilt University preparing for a commission in the Navy. “Those who serve should never be forgotten.”

Also at the ceremony was at least one Gold Star Mother, Iliana Jamie, whose son Jesse, was killed in Iraq and is listed on the killed in action panel of the memorial wall.

“It’s very emotional to be here,” she said. “But it’s nice to see he’s not forgotten and to see everyone at the ceremony.”

Jamie attended the event with her other son, Joel, who was Jesse’s twin brother and fellow Army Ranger.

And celebrating his first Veteran’s Day was Joel Jamie’s three-month-old son, Jesse, who was named for his uncle.

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