Dale Dodge, front left, held the Baker City Flag for Squadron 41 during Sunday morning's Veterans Day ceremony on the lawn of the Baker County Courthouse. Loren Ingalls, middle back, a 23-year active Navy reservist from Baker City, brought his family to the ceremony. Holding Autumn Ingalls on his shoulders, he and Zach Ingalls, bottom right, listened to Jim Thomas of VFW Post 3048. (Baker City Herald/Kathy Orr).

By MIKE FERGUSON

Baker City Herald

David Coombs believes his 32-year Army career came about in part by his birthday – November 11, 1944, the nation’s sixth observance of Veterans Day, which used to be known as Armistice Day.

andquot;Veterans Day has always been a special day for me,andquot; Coombs said Sunday following Baker City’s 15-minute ceremony, held outside the Baker County Courthouse under a brilliant blue sky and attended by more than 60 people.

andquot;It seemed like I was predestined to be a military man.andquot;

Coombs, who moved to Baker City last year, enlisted in the Army during the Cuban Missile Crisis and served the Fourth Infantry Division into the 1990s.

andquot;The only reason I left,andquot; he said, andquot;is the Army said I was getting a little soft.andquot;

As he entered his 50s, he says he could no longer defeat 19-year-old new recruits in the two-mile run.

He never saw battle, but he provided advanced infantry training to some of those new recruits at Fort Lewis, Wash., and other bases from Europe to South Korea.

andquot;It’s not like I didn’t want to fight,andquot; he said. andquot;If they asked me, I’d re-enlist tomorrow.andquot;

Military service didn’t come without a price. Coombs suffered an 80 percent hearing loss in one ear, 20 percent in the other. An older brother died of the effects of Agent Orange during the Viet Nam War.

In all, four of the five Coombs brothers served in the military. It’s a tradition Coombs passed along to his own son, who did his stint with the Army’s famed 82nd Airborne Division.

The willing service that the Coombs family and 25 million other veterans have offered their nation is ample reason to honor them with a holiday on the anniversary of the end of the First World War, said Jim Thomas, senior vice-commander of VFW Post 3048. Thomas was featured speaker at Sunday’s ceremony.

Military service has been rendered all over the globe whenever it’s needed – from Porkchop Hill to the Persian Gulf, Thomas said.

andquot;This is your day to stand up and be recognized,andquot; he told his fellow veterans. andquot;It’s a day for every veteran to reflect on his service and remember his fallen comrades.andquot;

A andquot;greatly determinedandquot; military andquot;has always protected the nation against clear and present dangers,andquot; Thomas said. Over the past four years, nearly one million troops have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan andquot;as the result of a cowardly, dastardly attackandquot; on Sept. 11, 2001, he said.

According to Thomas, civilians can aid those who have taken up arms. Those Americans who aren’t on active duty or serve in the National Guard can help the cause of veterans by advocating for their healthcare, educational and job-training needs upon separation from the military, Thomas said.

andquot;We can never abandon them,andquot; he said. andquot;We won’t condone or abide indifference or the lack of meaningful action. We know they shouldn’t be consigned to a life of unfulfilled promises.

andquot;We must fight as hard to advocate for them as they fought for our nation. Not to do that demeans their service.andquot;