PORT ANGELES — More than 300 veterans, family members, friends and community members honored those who served their country on Monday at the annual Veterans Day event sponsored by the Clallam County Veterans Association and held at the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Port Angeles hangar on Ediz Hook.
Among them were Korean War veteran Richard Smelling, 93.
The Port Angeles native enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in the summer of 1950, shortly after graduating from high school. A foreman at the Rayonier Mill, where he worked, asked him, “When are you going to get involved?”
So, he did.
Smelling served in the 58th Fighter Bomber Group, which flew F84 Thunderjets, the workhorse of the Air Force’s fleet.
“They were big, tough airplanes and came back [from missions] with a lot of holes,” Smelling said.
Smelling stopped driving about six months ago, so Sutton Beckett, his neighbor for the past two years, brought him to the ceremony.
“It could be my last one,” Smelling said with a smile.
Sutton laughed and shook his head.
“He’s still as sharp as a tack,” Sutton said. “I’ve learned more in the time I’ve known him than from anyone else in my entire life.”
Smelling also has been an important to Beckett’s 12-year-old son Kaston since the death of his grandfather.
“A lot of wisdom,” Sutton said.
Monday’s event honored veterans from the Air Force, the U.S. Army, the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Navy with their service songs performed by the Port Angeles High School Band.
Commander Kelly Higgins, who assumed command of Coast Guard Station Port Angeles in August, was introduced by Coast Guard Air Station Executive Officer and master of ceremonies Commander Roger Barr.
The guest speaker was Rear Admiral Charles Fosse, commander of the 13th Coast Guard District, which includes Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana.
Fosse said about 6 percent of America’s adult population — or 18 million people — are veterans of the armed forces.
“These numbers represent real people, brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, friends and individuals who are woven into the fabric of communities,” Fosse said. “Our veterans represent the diversity and character of our great nation, and our military is stronger because of it.”
Veterans Day is a time to reflect and consider the sacrifice of those who have “placed love of country above love of self,” he said.
“Americans continue to draw strength from those who serve, who live lives that matter for a greater cause,” Fosse said.
The high school choir, Grand Olympic Chorus and Juan de Fuca Harmony sang, and Rick McKenzie, retired U.S. Coast Guard, played bagpipes to close out the ceremony. The Marine Corps League Mount Olympus Detachment No. 897 provided a three-volley salute.
Veterans who served in conflicts in which Congress did not officially declare war — Korea, Vietnam, Persian Gulf, Iraqi Freedom and Afghanistan — were singled out for recognition.
When Smelling returned to Port Angeles from his service, he settled into a job with the U.S. Postal Service for 27 years, retiring in 1992.
He tied the knot with Doris Mae Lyons in 1980, blaming his military service for the delay.
“When I got back, all the girls were married,” he said.
The U.S. marked its first Armistice Day in 1919 under President Woodrow Wilson to recognize the sacrifices of those who had fought and died in World War I. In 1954, it was renamed Veterans Day, and in 1988, Nov. 11 became a national holiday.
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Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached by email at paula.hunt@peninsuladailynews.com.
Sutton Beckett, left, assists his neighbor Richard Smelling, 93, stand during the Armed Forces Salute at the Veterans Day ceremony Monday at U.S. Coast Guard Station Port Angeles. Smelling, a Port Angeles native, served in the Air Force during the Korean War. (Paula Hunt/Peninsula Daily News)
