Antone Vieira Jr., right, salutes a wreath honoring Westport’s veterans. At left is Veterans Services Agent Bradford Fish.

Lt. Col.(retired) Donald Elbert delivers the keynote address.

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As often seems to happen when Westport gathers to honor its veterans, a brisk wind whipped across Beech Grove Cemetery on Sunday.

The weather didn’t deter veterans, many of them getting on in years, nor those who had come to thank them, some of them much younger including the uniformed members of Westport Boy Scout Troop 3 who joined in the ceremonies, and the members of the middle school band. Town Veterans Services Agent Bradford Fish, who led the remembrance, wore a short-sleeved shirt throughout.

Keynote speaker Lt. Col.(retired) Donald Elbert, a member of Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter #207, said this was an especially memorable Veterans Day, falling as it did on the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I — the “war to end all wars.” That day would come to be called Armistice Day, a name that was later changed to Veterans Day.

World War I was indeed a horrific struggle, Mr. Elbert said, right up until the final days.

Sadly, it would turn out that this war would not end wars — Americans would travel overseas again and again — World War II, Korean, Vietnam — he said.

And each time young Americans answered the call, many giving their lives he said. Military service is part of our heritage — “This is what we do” when called.

We promise that those who served “will not bear their wounds alone, he said, adding that “We, as a grateful nation, will embrace the survivors of those who do not return.”

Board of Selecmen Chairwoman Shana Shufelt urged the audience to listen closely to the stories veterans tell, memories that are so important.

She told of one shared by her great uncle who had served overseas along with his brother, though in separate units.

At one point, when they were stationed near one another, he tracked his brother down.

“And when his brother saw him he punched him” which led to a long family dispute over “whether he punched him because he recognized his brother or because he didn’t recognized him. But I don’t think that is what this story is about.”

“I hear a love story … of brothers, of family, of home and how important that connection is in a time of chaos and despair. I think this is one of the things that makes veterans stand apart from the rest of us.”

No matter where they served, “they had to go away” from family, from home — they missed family celebrations and realize “how precious those things are.”

“If you are lucky enough to hear these stories, I hope that is what you will listen for.”

A member of American Legion Post 145 delivered the proclamation by President Woodrow Wilson establishing Armistice Day and reminded those president that the war had claimed the lives of 100,000 American armed services members and altered the lives of countless others.

“We again salute the generations upon generations of American heroes who have sacrificed so much to secure the blessings of freedom for their fellow Americans.”