Tracy Luton, commander of Tupper Lake’s Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3120, said there are around 160 veterans in her local VFW post, but there are hundreds around the area.

She said there are 14 veterans living at Mercy Living Center, but the VFW couldn’t hold its usual ceremony there this year, because the nursing home is under lockdown with active COVID-19 cases. She said they’ll reschedule the ceremony, but she wasn’t sure when.

Rev. Rick Wilburn, pastor of the Tupper Lake Baptist Chapel, prayed for unity.

Village Mayor Paul Maroun also delivered a speech about unity.

Joanne Wilbur leaves a wreath at the Tupper Lake Veterans Memorial on Veterans Day. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Cerbone)

There’s a lot of history about Veterans Day and stories to tell about the military, he said, but he didn’t want go into detail about them.

“It really doesn’t matter,” he said.

A nihilistic message at first glance, Maroun continued, to explain what does matter.

What matters, he said is that every veteran who served in the U.S. military was willing to give their lives in service.

“Whether a veteran was in battle, behind the lines, in the air, on the sea or on the ground; whether a vet saw action or sat behind a desk; whether the vet swabbed a deck, loaded bombs or served chow; it really doesn’t matter,” Maroun said.

Mike Russell leaves a wreath at the Tupper Lake Veterans Memorial on Veterans Day. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Cerbone)

Maroun, who retired as a commander in the Navy, said he believes when troops salute officers, officers should salute lower-ranked troops in turn, too. After all, they’re all part of the same team, on the same mission and they should respect each other, he said.

“Our veterans are in places we wouldn’t want to be, doing things we don’t want to do,” he said.

“A special thanks to all the veterans today, the men and women who served,” Leon Leblanc, a Marine and village trustee in Tupper Lake, said.

Leblanc also thanked the voters who reelected him to the village board earlier this month.

Between the speeches and the wreath-laying ceremony, the Tupper Lake High School band struck up patriotic tunes.

Leon Leblanc, a retired Marine, salutes the U.S. and military flags after leaving a wreath at the Tupper Lake Veterans Memorial on Veterans Day. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Cerbone)

“They’ve been working real hard,” Tupper Lake Central School District Band Director Laura Davison said.

The said the band this year is a very young group. Some sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students volunteered to help out, she said.

Libby Gillis, right, hangs a wreath at the Tupper Lake Veterans Memorial on Veterans Day, representing the local Girl Scouts troop. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Cerbone)