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Flagler County and the city of Palm Coast held a joint Veterans Day ceremony on Nov. 11, honoring veterans from all branches of the armed forces. Flagler County also awarded its 2022 Veteran one the Year award. PVC Wall Panels

The ceremony started at 10 a.m. at the Flagler Auditorium. A free lunch was hosted for attendees afterward in the parking lot. 

“We say thank you to every one of our veterans,” Palm Coast Mayor David Alfin said. “Each one of you, and each one of you helped pave the path forward for these future veterans.”

“We say thank you to every one of our veterans, each one of you, and each one of you helped pave the path forward for these future veterans.”

— DAVID ALFIN, Palm Coast major

This year, Tom Piekarski, the 2021 Flagler County Veteran of the Year, introduced the 2022 Veteran of the Year winner, Charles Hanger — U.S. Army veteran and a Purple Heart recipient.

“Quite frankly,” Hanger said, “until right now, I did not know how humbling this kind of event really is for one individual.”

Hanger served in the U.S. Army from 1969 to 1971. He was drafted into the Vietnam War, where he earned his Purple Heart Medal serving as a combat medic.

Among other medals, Hanger also earned the Bronze Star Medal for exceptional heroism, Air Medal and the Army Commendation Medal with two oak leaf clusters, Piekarski said.

"He is very worthy of this award," Piekarski said.

Now, Hanger serves his community through volunteer efforts. He is a lifetime member of the Disabled American Veterans, and is the founder and president of Brave-Aid, an assistance fund for wounded veterans.

Hanger said his eighth-grade science teacher taught him a lesson that his stuck with him since. The teacher had combined several classes so there were about 40 students in the room, and he had the largest student in the room lay down on a sheet of plywood, Hanger said,

The teacher then told the rest of them to surround the plywood, he said, and try to lift it together, using only one finger each.

“He wanted to show us physically what a group of people can accomplish,” Hanger said. “It was incredible how little work it took to raise that big eighth-grader up in the air and put him back down.”

There is power in numbers, Hanger said, and said only a small number of veterans in Flagler County are involved in veteran services.

“He wanted to show us physically what a group of people can accomplish. It was incredible how little work it took to raise that big eighth grader-up in the air and put him back down.”

— CHARLES HANGER, U.S. Army Veteran and 2022 Flagler County Veteran of the Year.

“So I challenge each veteran here,” Hanger said, “to stop by each and every one of the veterans organizations and find out what's going on.”

The ceremony was a celebration of service, and included remarks from Palm Coast Mayor David Alfin, Piekarski and Joseph Pepin, U.S. Marine Corps veteran and commander of American Legion Post 115. Several Flagler County Commissioners attended the event as well.

The ceremony was full of performances from start to finish, beginning with the national anthem, performed by Melanie DeMartino, Alfin’s daughter. Shannon Rae led the room in the “United States Armed Forces Medley,” and later “God Bless America.”

Vince Cautero, a U.S. Army veteran, closed out the ceremony with his rendition of “God Bless the U.S.A.”

But some of Hanger’s closing words summed the morning up: Friday’s ceremony honored the veterans who served and who continue to serve the community. It encouraged others to do so as well.

“In this country,” Hanger said, “everybody has one little finger that they can lift.”

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