Virgin Islands veterans were honored with parades and ceremonies on Saturday in both districts as the territory observed Veterans Day 2000.
On St. Thomas, hundreds lined the waterfront to watch a military parade make its way from the Addelita Cancryn Junior High School to Emancipation Garden. In ceremonies attended by a few hundred people, speakers called for increased services to veterans in the territory.
"Many of the veterans in the Virgin Islands are becoming a part of the homeless community," said keynote speaker Greta Hart-Hyndman, a nurse at the Veterans Affairs office. "And while we return to our comfortable abode after these ceremonies, what are we doing to assist these men and women who have served?"
On St. Croix, the keynote address was delivered by Arnold Golden, who spoke of the many contributions of Virgin Islanders in both world wars, the Korean War and other conflicts.
Gov. Charles W. Turnbull in his remarks on St. Thomas also noted the contributions of Virgin Islands veterans and addressed a contingent of Korean War veterans; this year marks the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the Korean conflict.
"I pledge the resources of my administration to assist veterans and provide services that this elite group of residents are in need of," Turnbull said.
Veterans Day is celebrated each year on Nov. 11, the date that marked the signing of the armistice ending World War I.
