“We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;

For he to-day that sheds his blood with me

Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile,”

“Henry V” by William Shakespeare

See more photos in our videos/photos section.

Ned Kinkler Handly, former Bee County judge, saluted the veterans sitting on the field of A.C. Jones High School’s Veterans Memorial Stadium.

“Veterans, this community, this state salutes you,” he said during his speech at the Veterans Day ceremony hosted by the Beeville Garden Club.

The ceremony, now in its 30th year, was opened by Gwen DeWitt, master of ceremonies, who said, “It is not the preacher who gives us the freedom of religion...

“It is not the lawyer who gives us the freedom of a trial...

“It is not the politician that gives us the right to vote.”

For these freedoms, we can thank our veterans, she said.

“So today we need to take time to honor our veterans,” she said.

Handly, guest speaker at the ceremony, gave those in attendance a history lesson of past wars.

“Between 1914 and 1918, the greatest war of that time was fought,” Handly said. “Considering all the parties involved, practically a whole generation was injured in body or mind...

“At that time it was known as the Great War.”

The nomenclature would change when World War II began.

“In 1938, with another war looming on the horizon, Congress declared that Nov. 11 would be known as Armistice Day,” Handly said.

That name would later change to Veterans Day.

“I am sad to report that we have veterans departing to their rightful places at 1,000 a day,” he said.

Veterans Day, he said, isn’t just for those who died, but for those who survived.

“They are bound together in a brotherhood,” he said.

He reminded those at the ceremony that a veteran’s service to the community often doesn’t end on the battlefield.

“They serve even today to their community,” he said.

“At parades they stand up every time a flag passes by – no matter how many pass by.”