Reflection was at the center of the Veterans Day celebration at the Harold Daley Post 1333 on Lake Avenue Saturday morning.
“It’s been a tumultuous year,” Commander Joe Kenny, an Army veteran, said. “As we look at our country today, we see a lot of conflict but there are things in America that unite us all. As we come into America, we are all different yet we are foreigners, and we are unified by our national anthem, through our flag, through our pledge of allegiance – this is what brings us together to act for the common good.”
The annual event not only honors war veterans but those emergency responders who work day in and day out in service of the the community.
Post Commander Robert Jameson, a US Marine Corps Vietnam veteran, said accolades will be given to those first responders at a later date.
In attendance were Mayor John Moor and City Council members Jesse Kendle, Eileen Chapman and Yvonne Clayton.
Clayton, whose father Army Sgt. Robert Clayton served during World War II, shared a personal reflection of neighbor and lifelong family friend Capt. Major Milford Stanley, a three-year-long prisoner of war who served in the Army during the Korean War, a time when the military was transitioning out of segregation.
“For three years he endured unimaginable atrocities,” Clayton said of the 6’3” 163 pound man who returned weighing 130 pounds. Clayton said, his wife “saw someone in Chinese garb, go across her grainy TV, and said that’s my husband. It was a week later before she got notice that in truth that was her husband.”
Clayton said Stanley is featured in the 2014 “Black Soldier-White Army: The 24th Infantry Regiment 
in Korea,” written by Ivan J. Houston.
“He came home to his family,” she said choking back emotion. “He came home to country he loved so thank you veterans for your sacrifices and all that you have given to your country.”
Commander Wayne Jackson led the invocation and benediction, and Disabled American Veterans Post Commander John Morris, Vietnam Veteran Marty Martino of the Catholic War Veterans, Mayor John Moor, Police Chief Kevin Keddy, Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Sylvia Sylvia-Cioffi also addressed the crowd.
Also in attendance were Army Reserve members Major Avery Colon and Sgt. First Class Gabriel Fannan, and Asbury Park Firefighter Richard Schwarz who delivered the end of ceremony Taps.
“Today and every day, we must take the opportunity to keep alive the memories, sacrifices, and accomplishments of our nation’s veterans,” Jameson said. “We must embrace every occasion to educate future generations, the public and elected officials on the accomplishments, importance and the needs of our nation’s veterans. Your presence here provides meaningful proof that we will live up to our obligation to each and every individual who has ever worn the uniform of the United States and America.”
Saint Stephen’s African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church will host a Veterans Day celebration at 1045 a.m. Sunday. The church is located at 1001 Springwood Ave.
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