PORTSMOUTH — After 33 years in the U.S. Army, Col. Patrick M. McCarthy Jr. is preparing to hang up his uniform. But as he told a packed Veterans Day gathering Wednesday, Nov. 11, his days of service are far from over.

Speaking before one of the largest crowds in recent memory at VFW Post 5390 in Common Fence Point, McCarthy reflected on what Americans owe their veterans — and one another.

“This Veterans Day carries special meaning to me,” said McCarthy, who enlisted at 17, just three days after graduating from high school. “After 33 years in the Army, this will be my last Veterans Day in uniform.”

As retirement approaches, he said, he thinks less about the positions he held than the people who shaped him and the lessons they taught. Those reflections led him to what he called “America’s dirty little secret.”

“We’ve become very good at honoring the service of others without always recognizing our own responsibility to continue to serve,” he said.

The flags, wreaths, patriotic music and expressions of gratitude are important, McCarthy said. But they should also lead Americans to examine their own obligations.

“When the ceremony ends, it’s worth asking whether our gratitude today goes home with us as a feeling or follows us into a new day of responsibility.”

McCarthy, who has held numerous Army leadership positions and taught at the U.S. Naval War College, said military service has become increasingly distant from many Americans. Other people’s children enlist, other people’s spouses deploy, and other families endure the uncertainty of war.

“In a democracy, the decision to send people to war belongs morally to the nation, not just to the armed forces or our elected officials,” he said.

A neighbor’s example

To illustrate what a lifetime of service can mean, McCarthy turned to Kevin Blount of Prudence Island.

Blount spent roughly 42 years with the Coast Guard, first on active duty and later as a civilian employee. In 1981, he joined the Prudence Island Volunteer Fire Department, where he spent decades responding to emergencies, training younger firefighters and helping sustain the department. He also helped preserve the historic Sandy Point Lighthouse.

In September, the Portsmouth Town Council recognized Blount with the 2026 Portsmouth Award. But McCarthy suggested the award was not the true measure of his accomplishments.

“I don’t know how many people Kevin has helped over those years. I doubt he could even count them,” he said. “The meaning of service is not measured by how many people witness it. Often it is measured by what happens because somebody quietly and consistently shows up.”

Blount’s example, he said, demonstrates that a veteran’s contributions need not end with military service. “When we thank our veterans, we rightly honor what they did in uniform. Kevin also reminds us we should pay attention to what they continue to do afterward.”

McCarthy encouraged those gathered, particularly the young Scouts, to speak with veterans and learn from their experiences. “Ask what they learned, not just where they served,” he said.

He closed with a simple challenge: “Bring someone in, build something together, and pass something on.”

That might mean welcoming a neighbor, volunteering, teaching a young person a skill or preserving someone’s story.

“My time in uniform is approaching its end, but my opportunity to serve others has not,” he said.

Remembering a ‘forgotten’ battle

The ceremony also looked further into the past, to a time when Portsmouth itself was a battlefield.

Before leading the Pledge of Allegiance, Jack Conboy of the VFW Post 5390 Auxiliary posed a question: What was the largest Revolutionary War battle fought in New England?

Not Lexington and Concord. Not Bunker Hill.

The answer, he said, was the Battle of Rhode Island, fought Aug. 29, 1778.

“This is hidden history, forgotten, for the most part,” Conboy said. “Most of you did not hear this in school.”

Although known as the Rhode Island Campaign, the fighting took place primarily in Portsmouth and Middletown. Conboy said nearly 12,000 colonial troops and approximately 6,500 British and Hessian soldiers were present, with roughly 7,800 engaged in combat.

Among them were members of the 1st Rhode Island Regiment, which included Black and Indigenous soldiers who fought for the American cause and their own freedom.

“Sometimes folks in Massachusetts get the idea that everything important in the Revolution happened within what is now the I-495 Loop,” Conboy said. “No, it didn’t.”

He urged the audience not to overlook sacrifices made closer to home. “But on Veterans Day, let’s not forget any veteran, especially the locals.”

Local veterans honored

David Duggan, commander of American Legion Post 18, led the proceedings.

Former VFW Post 5390 Commander Ken Rutter presented Patriot Awards to retired Navy Capt. Richard Rainer Jr., Portsmouth’s town administrator, and Duggan.

Rutter also recognized Jim Kitzmiller for helping organize the ceremony. Navy Cmdr. Edward Erwin, CHC, led the invocation and benediction. The Newport Navy Choristers performed the national anthem and the Armed Forces Medley, while Boy Scout Troop 1 presented the colors.