Hayden salutes veterans
HAYDEN — Local residents thronged Hayden’s annual Veterans Day ceremony on a cold Monday morning to honor those who have served in the United States armed forces.
The crowd, composed of civilians and veterans of military service, warmly congratulated retired U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Gregory “Mac” McCarty, whom the city’s veterans commission recognized as Hayden’s Distinguished Veteran of the Year. McCarty said he never thought he would receive such an award, but lived every day as if he needed to earn it.
He comes from a long line of veterans. His father was a Marine, his grandfather was in the Navy, and his brother served in Vietnam as a soldier. McCarty said that everything good about him came from a veteran.
“One hundred percent — a veteran put it there,” he said.
He singled out his father, who taught him to respond with a “yes, sir” when spoken to. McCarty explained that the courtesy was a means of showing respect to other people regardless of their social status. McCarty’s dad would return the courtesy to him, and McCarty himself addresses the students at Hayden Meadows Elementary School as “sir” and “ma’am” like his father did to him, he said.
McCarty serves as head custodian at Hayden Meadows. He oversees the honor guard program there. He was instrumental in inspiring several Hayden Meadows students to treat the U.S. flag with respect, which garnered national attention in September.
During his 20 years of active duty service, McCarty earned the Meritorious Service Medal, Southwest Asia Service Medal with two Bronze Stars, Kuwait Liberation Medal (Saudi Arabia and Kuwait), and numerous other distinctions.
Retired U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Curley Lawson served as the event’s guest speaker despite a bad flu. Lawson works as a veterans readjustment counselor with the Department of Veterans Administration in Spokane. Lawson lamented that the day, which began as a tribute to the veterans of World War I, which ended 100 years ago Sunday, had to later be broadened to include veterans of later wars stretching from World War II to the present day.
He said Veterans Day was all about the warriors who fought, and many of whom then returned to the civilian world.
“Your service was not always understood by family, friends, coworkers,” and others, Lawson said.
That lack of mutual understanding stems in part from the lack of widespread participation in military service. Citing V.A. statistics, Lawson said that less than 1 percent of the national population currently serves in the military today. As of 2016, the United States had approximately 20 million veterans, which make up an ever-shrinking percentage of the national population. The V.A. projects that by 2045 there will be approximately 12 million veterans in the country, down 40 percent from the present day, he said.