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SARAH CAVACINI/Palatka Daily News. Retired Army veteran Lt. Col. Charles Coxsell and his family wave to Veterans Day parade attendees down St. Johns Avenue as he serves as the Veterans Day parade's grand marshal. -
SARAH CAVACINI/Palatka Daily News. Palatka Junior-Senior High School's JRTOC cadets march in the city's Veterans Day parade on Saturday.
Palatka and Putnam County leaders joined residents and veterans from VFW Post 3349 and American Legion Bert Hodge Post 45 on Saturday to commemorate Veterans Day.
Retired Army Lt. Col. Charles Coxsell, who served as this year’s Veterans Day parade grand marshal, spoke at the Palatka ceremony that immediately followed the parade.
“To the American citizen, my fellow Americans, it is right that you celebrate veterans for their selfless service,” Coxswell said during the ceremony at the Palatka riverfront.
The retired lieutenant grew up around the world with his Air Force veteran father, said Gerald Donnelly, the commander for VFW Post 3349 in Palatka.
In May 1979, Donnelly said, Coxswell became a second lieutenant at Marion Military Institute in Alabama. By June 1985, Coxswell was commissioned into the Army, according to Donnelly.
Coxswell said he was honored to serve as this year’s grand marshal. He remembered growing up during the Vietnam War era and noticing the lack of respect people had for them.
He said he recalled being in Thailand with his father, returning to America and feeling as if no one noticed Vietnam veterans who returned from service.
Throughout every war, every man and woman who served did their duty “magnificently,” he said.
Dispelling rumors about veterans’ well-being after returning from deployment, Coxswell told the crowd that veterans aren’t broken simply because they served and may have seen combat. A veteran is someone seasoned, resilient, enduring and pragmatic, he said.
“Embrace them and learn from them,” Coxswell said. “The veteran’s experiences are a treasure chest of wisdom. Seek their wisdom.”
Lester Sheppard, commander of the American Legion in Palatka, asked all veterans at the ceremony to raise their hands. People looked around to discover nearly half the people in the crowd were veterans.
“If it wasn’t for the veterans, we might be talking German, Russian, Chinese,” Sheppard said. “But because they gave their life and they served and wore their uniform, we’re able to speak English in a free country.”
Coxswell closed his speech by asking veterans and everyone else in attendance to pray with him and accept Jesus Christ into their hearts. He said many veterans have turned away from God but read the hymn, “Just As I Am, Without One Plea.”
He said it has been recited to many American veterans throughout history.
“Veterans are conduits of unity, not derision or divisiveness,” Coxswell said before reading the hymn. “Your character, tried and tested in conflict, is the foundation of this democratic republic. You are a rock upon which we are anchored.”
