November 8, 2021
The 100th anniversary of the New Canaan Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 653 will be marked this week when the Post hosts the annual Veterans Day ceremony on Thursday at God’s Acre on the grounds of the Congregational Church of New Canaan.
U.S. Army Col. Stephen S. Hamilton, a cyber specialist and associate professor at West Point, will be the guest speaker at the ceremony, which begins each year at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.
Hamilton has served in Iraq as a signal company commander and was deployed to Louisiana to support relief efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. He has held various staff positions in signal and cyber units and is currently the Chief of Staff and Technical Director of the Army Cyber Institute.
Veterans Day commemorates the date and time of Armistice Day, which marked the end of World War I.
Hamilton’s address will follow an introduction by New Canaan First Selectman Kevin Moynihan. At the conclusion of the ceremony, Moynihan will be presented with a flag that was flown over the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. in honor of the Post’s 100th anniversary.
Other town officials will participate in the ceremony and Caroline Sparico, vice-regent of the Hannah Benedict Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, will give some brief remarks.
The event will be opened and closed by bugler Michael Mank, a New Canaan High School student and an alternate to the All-National Band in 2020.
Mike McGlinn, commander of VFW Post 653, said this year’s ceremony is a special one for the local Post, which was originally chartered in 1921 as a club for young World War I veterans and is officially known as the Howard M. Bossa and Peter C. Langenus Post 653 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States.
“It is important for the VFW and the New Canaan community to celebrate Veterans Day,” McGlinn said. “We honor all veterans, living or deceased, on this day and our brief ceremony at God’s Acre is a great way to show our respect for all New Canaanites that have served in the U.S. Armed Forces.”
