In the ninth year since their launch, the Bells of Peace rang out at Presque Isle’s Veterans Memorial Park at 11 a.m. Wednesday.
The tolling of a bell 21 times honors those who lost their lives serving the country, and is offered in the spirit of a 21-gun salute.
The Doughboy Foundation founded the initiative in 2018 to commemorate 100 years since the end of the First World War. Armistice was declared in 1918 and countries worldwide rang bells in jubilation. President Woodrow Wilson launched Armistice Day, which decades later became Veterans Day to honor all who have served.
“The ringing of the bells, the Bells of Peace initiative, all has to do with Veterans Day itself and the fact that we ended the war on the 11th day at the 11th hour in the 11th month,” said Kim Smith, Presque Isle’s resource development and public information officer.
Presque Isle played a significant role in the nation’s defense from 1940 to 1961, when its air base served as the last U.S. point for servicemen and women bound for Europe, she said — a fact noted by President John F. Kennedy during a 1960 visit.
The city also housed the nation’s first nuclear missile, the Snark, Smith said.
Tayliegh Lopez of Caribou, a member of the Disabled American Veterans, rang the bell.
Lopez returned to northern Maine two years ago, having grown up in the area while her father served at the former Loring Air Force Base.
“It was the only place I remember being happy. It was the only home I ever knew,” she said. “Dad was stationed at Loring … from 1979 to 1983.”
Lopez attended Caribou schools and then served 10 years in the U.S. Army, followed by a two-year stint in the U.S. Navy.
She joined a group of around 20 local veterans for the ceremony.
Adjutant Jasper Lee of Smart-Ricker Unit 10, Disabled American Veterans, encouraged everyone to remember service members’ commitment to defend the freedom Americans enjoy. He also spoke of the nation’s need to honor its commitments to care for service members.
“I believe veterans deserve more than a medal and deeper cuts to programs and services,” Lee said. “The nation’s best and most effective resource is a veteran.”
After the playing of taps by DAV member Rod Cameron, veterans laid a wreath at the park’s monument.
Members of The County Composite Squadron of Civil Air Patrol marched solemnly in front of the park’s veterans monument, calling to mind the constant, silent patrol at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.
“The freedoms we enjoy come with a cost, and today we pause to remember those who paid it,” City Manager Sonja Eyler said. “Thank you for being here and for helping us ensure that they are never forgotten.”