Mike Dancausse and Commander Melvin Goldberg, right, prepare the flag for the 2011 Veterans Day celebration at Escazú's International Baptist Church on Sunday.
Though Costa Rica has not had a military since 1948, hundreds of veterans from around the world have made it their home. These veterans were guests of honor at Escazú’s International Baptist Church’s Veterans Day ceremony on Sunday.
Embassy and consular representatives from Trinidad and Tobago, Canada, the United Kingdom and Belgium attended Sunday’s ceremony along with U.S. Consul General Robin Haase who said, “Veterans represent the best of each of our countries.”
The service focused more on the spiritual aspects of war and the only truly military touch came from trumpeter Philip Jarman who opened the ceremony with a bugle call to worship and closed it with “Reveille.”
U.S. Marine Corps Cmdr. Melvin Goldberg said, “I don’t know a veteran anywhere who glorifies war. That is not our purpose. Our purpose is to honor our veterans.”
Jerry Thomas, chaplain of the U.S. Marine Corps League in Costa Rica, applauded the ceremony and its organizers for focusing on an array of veterans.
“It was great to have representatives from Europe and the Commonwealth here. It’s important that we remember them also because they were there with us, they have been our allies through all this time,” Thomas said.
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