Veterans Day commemorated at local retirement communities

TOWN OF MANLIUS – In observance of Veterans Day several events were held Nov. 10 at retirement facilities in Fayetteville and Manlius.
The brief ceremonies were held back-to-back that afternoon at Brookdale Manlius on Flume Road, Brookdale East Side on East Genesee Street, and the Towne Center Retirement Community on Medical Center Drive.
Representatives of Manlius Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7872 and the Onondaga County Veterans Council put on the Friday recognitions of the federal holiday, which marks the anniversary of World War I coming to an end with the signing of the armistice between the Allies and Germany at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918.
For the occasion last week, the flags at each retirement facility were ceremoniously lowered slowly and raised back up quickly with the help of chosen residents who had served in the armed forces.
At the Towne Center senior facility, Dennis Sands raised the flag alongside Tom Roberts, a former United States Marine Corps sergeant who said “it was an honor” to participate in the ceremony.
Sands was a corporal in the United States Army from 1958 to 1960, serving as a “Cold War warrior” stationed at Fort Hood in Texas right after rock ‘n’ roll star Elvis Presley left that army base for an assignment in Germany. Roberts served at the tail end of World War II and was called back into the reserves to spend a year in combat during the Korean War.
Paul Hrynio, an authorized guest from the Onondaga County Veterans Council, for which he is newly the first vice commander, said on Friday, “We are here for veterans and to appreciate them.”
As retired residents looked on through the front common room windows or near the entrance at each location, Hrynio’s father, Frank, played