Shelter Island celebrates Veterans Day 2025
A few minutes before 11 a.m. on Tuesday in front of the Community Center, waiting for the Shelter Island Veterans Day ceremonies to begin, Father Peter DeSanctis said with a smile to a friend, “It’s not as cold as you feel.”
Another friend passing by replied, “Right. It’s colder.”
Winter had arrived on the Island with morning temperatures below 40 along with a cutting west wind gusting as high as 40 mph. The raw weather brought sounds of flags snapping straight out and the rattling of lines against flagpoles. Despite the weather, a small group assembled for the continuation of a tradition, honoring veterans and bringing comfort and reassurance to the community. This small town, from the Revolutionary War to the present day, has sent men and women to the nation’s military.
American Legion Commander Michael (Zack) Mundy, a Marine Corps veteran of Afghanistan, opened the ceremonies and brought some levity to the event by saying that he “was a little under the weather” from celebrating the Corps’ 250th birthday the night before.
Kathleen Springer led a small chorus of students in a lilting National Anthem and Father DeSanctis gave the invocation. He prayed for “the guardians of peace who are serving all over the world.”
U.S. Army veteran Wayne King, one of the featured speakers, spoke of how “we are living in unprecedented times,” noting that “we’re done fighting the longest war ever” with U.S. troops withdrawn from Afghanistan in 2021, ending after 20 years.
Mr. King spoke of the transition veterans make returning to civilian life and “some are doing well and some not so well.” What’s essential, he mentioned, are “friends, family and community.” Shelter Island has always rallied to ease that critical transition, he said, by helping veterans when needed.
He recalled being on leave on the Island “and I lost track of time” and realized the ferries had closed down and he would miss his flight back to report to his base. A call was made to Cliff Clark “and he had his boots on before he hung up the phone.”
In the wheelhouse making the crossing in the dead of night Mr. Clark, a veteran himself, refused any offer of money “and told me, ‘I’d have to get up in a few hours anyway,’” Mr. King remembered. “Who does this? Shelter Island does this.”
He mentioned the Legion as not “just a club where you have a few beers and tell stories but a community.” He reminded the gathering about needed upgrades to the facility, especially the kitchen and the steps, since many older folks are having trouble navigating the stairs.
American Legion Auxiliary member Sharon Gibbs, the other featured speaker, began by saying that “there are over 18 million vets living in the United States today … We look to celebrate the attributes that we admire in those who served: courage, honor, sacrifice and selflessness.”
Ms. Gibbs quoted President George W. Bush from October 2021: “Americans should always honor our veterans. At this moment, we especially need the example of their character … These veterans have shaped our history, and with their values, your generation will help guide our future.”
She added that, “When I read this quote, I think of all the young men and women, just from our small town, who went on to serve after 9/11, and the young men and women who have continued signing-up all these years later … This makes me stop and think about all the people who live in our community and in our great country who have come back and quietly returned to community life, but with a skill set of leadership and honor that they contribute to the whole community. Most of us probably do not realize how many of our neighbors are veterans.”
Ms. Gibbs brought her address to a close by saying, “I stand here today proud of all veterans and thank them for their service. But I also stand here as a proud family member of generations of men and women who served from World War I to the present … Whether having served long ago or presently, in wartime or peace, domestically or overseas, they answered the call … God bless our veterans and God bless America!”
Rev. Stephen Adkison, pastor of the Presbyterian Church, gave the benediction, calling for remembrance of “all who served” and praying for “those who bear the wounds of war and that their sacrifices be honored.”
People dispersed quickly to get indoors. Not very long later, snow flurries, wet and darting, were flying in every direction in the whirling wind. But after the ceremonies in the Center, it really wasn’t as cold as it felt.
SHELTER ISLAND ACTIVE DUTY SERVICE MEMBERS
Christopher Clark, Cody Clark, Shane Corbett, Eamon Flynn Earley, Cody Farrell, Phillip Franzoni, Alden Rocco Goodwin, Jacob Norton, Sabella Norton, Charles Idle, Timothy Knapp, Isabella Sherman, Jeremy Schmid, Erik Thilberg, Louis Toth, Morgan Waddington, Erin Dowling Bailey, Brennan Michel, Nicole Clark, Josephine Riley
