By Erin Freeman | Lynnwood Times Staff

The city of Lynnwood hosted a virtual Veterans Day ceremony on November 11, honoring and thanking all who served in the United States Armed Forces. 

While the ceremony did not have the usual gathering due to the coronavirus pandemic, the city still wanted to do something special for all the veterans and families in the community to thank them for their service and remember the ones who are no longer here today.

“Lynnwood is committed to being a veteran-supportive city,” said the city of Lynnwood in a social media post. “We appreciate our veterans and thank them for their service to our country.”

Prerecorded at Lynnwood Veterans Park, U.S. Navy Veteran Glenn Ledbetter commenced the ceremony with an assembly bugle call. Piper Kevin Auld followed, performing Amazing Grace on the bagpipes. A small group of local veterans gathered wearing face masks to remember themselves and each other, paying tribute to all veterans.

Escorted by U.S. Marine Corps Veteran Martin Spani, Gold Star mother, Myra Rintamaki, led the laying of the wreath ceremony with U.S. Navy Veteran John Beam. They each placed a ceremonial wreath alongside a permanent memorial to veterans found within the park. The honor guard then held a firing lead by U.S. Army Veteran Frank Martinez, with seven members performing the three-volley salute, honoring late veterans. Wednesday’s ceremony ended with echo taps performed by Ledbetter and U.S. Coast Guard Veteran Lukas Breen. 

The city of Lynnwood extended its special thanks to all veterans who participated, as well as the ceremony coordinator U.S. Marine Corps Veteran Martin Spani. 

To further connect with local veterans, the city of Lynnwood posted videos to its Facebook page, spotlighting four veterans to learn about how they are doing, how they are coping throughout the pandemic, and what local veterans need. Those conversations can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/LynnwoodWA.