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South Aiken Presbyterian Church played host to an exceptionally large morning crowd Nov. 11, as the host site for Aiken County Veterans Council 's annual Veterans Day program. The gathering, normally held in Aiken County Veterans Memorial Park , on Richland Avenue, was moved indoors due to weather concerns, and the speakers included two Green Berets who shared from their Army experiences at home and abroad.
Lowell Koppert , chairman of the veterans council, offered an overview of the holiday. "It's about service. It often gets confused with Memorial Day.
Some folks that haven't served in the military are unfamiliar with how the military works and operates. Memorial Day is to honor those that served in the uniformed services and lost their life in combat while serving our great nation, and today is just a day to stop and simply thank everyone who signed up to serve our nation," he said. One of Koppert's friends and military compatriots (a sergeant first class, not identified fully by name, for reasons of security) also addressed the gathering, sharing from the path that led him from childhood as "something of an Air Force brat" in Maine to serving in several countries around the world, learning multiple languages en route to providing emergency medical services for both human and veterinary patients.
The sergeant, recalling his induction into the military's elite, said, "I wasn't the strongest. I wasn't the fastest or brightest person at selection, admittedly, but they must have thought I had a great personality, because somehow I made it through and I got selected." Submariners honored for decades-deep commitment He wound up focusing largely on medicine and learning small-unit tactics, to help Green Berets train partner forces around the world.
"It's one of our main mandates...
and it's one of the reasons that we all learn a foreign language — a second language or a third language — when we go through." He recalled appreciating interaction with military units from around the world, including eastern Europe, which led to breaking through some cultural barriers and building strong camaraderie with Americans, even amid COVID-19 restrictions. "It was cute," he said, recalling that one particular group of Polish troops "wouldn't let any of other foreign troops.
.. within 100 feet of us.
They wouldn't let them befriend us, and they would literally tell them, and threaten them, 'These are our Americans. Go get your own.'" He also addressed more recent events, including the calamity that struck western North Carolina in late October.
Tropical Storm Helene triggered a massive response from veterans, "many from hundreds of miles or thousands of miles away, the day after, or two days after, to throw on their boots and their rucksacks again, and to travel overland...
to rescue, to provide emergency care and medications, like insulin," he said. Barber tells stories from her World War II veteran father "They hiked in and they rode horses in. They were literally hoisted in by helicopter.
They brought food and clean water, clothes, generators, Starlink internet hubs where supply routes, power and communications were cut off...
They rescued people from rooftops and wreckage and are still assisting with recovery and cleanup to this day, and they will for many, many months to come." Koppert recalled a 2014 event that occurred while he was in Rome, working to provide security for a "very high-networked individual," when he was called aside by an Italian police officer who asked to see Koppert's passport and asked if was with "special forces." They eventually determined that the two men had served together in Afghanistan in 2005, and the Italian man had recognized Koppert by his voice as he had heard it over the radio, working as allies.
Koppert recalled being told that the Italians were "always ecstatic" to hear an American voice on the radio when immediate help was needed, because the Americans — instead of asking about the "how hot the area was," and the quantity of opposing forces — would respond by asking for the relevant location and indicating that "we're coming to get you." Prime Living: Operation St. Nick spreads holiday cheer to Aiken County veterans "Ever since that incident occurred in the airport years ago, I always think about that on Veterans Day, and just the impact that we all — everyone in this room that served — have had.
.. We laugh and joke about the funny stuff that we experienced, and some of the bad things that we've seen, but we don't necessarily stop enough, I think, and pause in reflection as to how our service has impacted everybody else.
" The Nov. 11 gathering, in keeping with tradition, included placement of wreaths representing the various branches of the military, and a playing of each branch's song, with veterans being invited to stand when their particular song was played. Roger and Barb Rollins provided music for the event, as did Marine veteran Andrew Siders, who sang the national anthem.
Dwight Bradham, Aiken County's director of veterans affairs, estimated attendance as about 130. Among his prominent neighbors in attendance was Aiken City Council member Gail Diggs. "They always do a good job," she said, giving the event a thumbs-up review.
"I really appreciate their service. They're some pretty incredible people.".
