About 30 people gathered at 10 a.m. Monday for the annual public reading of the Declaration of Independence hosted by VFW Boswell A. Johnson Post 10825 around the flagpoles in front of the Bulloch County Judicial Annex. This year, it included an emphasis on national brotherhood.
This was the second consecutive year the local Veterans of Foreign Wars post has held the recitation at this spot. Two years ago, a smaller gathering occurred across the street on the grounds of the historic courthouse.
Opening Monday’s ceremony, Post 10825 Commander Larry Shatteen delivered a statement entitled “All in the Same Boat,” issued last week by the VFW headquarters.
The point was that not all of citizens of Great Britain’s colonies that formed the United States were in agreement at the start of the Revolution, which lasted eight years, but all were, in a sense “in the same boat” by the time it ended.
“This Independence Day, the Veterans of Foreign Wars asks each American to remember how we got here, remember the journey isn’t over, and remember we are all still in the same boat together,” Shatteen concluded. “It’s your birthday, America. Go ahead and celebrate.”
After post Chaplain Eugene Smith said the opening prayer and Senior Vice Commander Mike Cox spoke on the background of the Declaration, eight member veterans read the sections of the text, beginning with the preamble and declaration of rights, followed by the 1776 “bill of indictment” against British colonial rule, and concluding with the statement of independence.
VFW Georgia State Junior Vice Commander Dean Rakoskie, a member and past commander of Post 10825, then read the late comedian Red Skelton’s non-comedic 1969 monologue on the Pledge of Allegiance and before leading the group in reciting the pledge as it is done at VFW meetings.
While member veteran Alex Brown and Cox conducted a ceremonial folding of the United States flag into a triangle, post Jr. Vice Commander Felix Loya recited a symbolic meaning of each fold.
Brotherhood circle
This year, Rakoskie, as organizer of the event, introduced a new element. He had the group gather in a circle, each person placing a hand of the shoulder of the next, and sing the first verse and chorus of “America the Beautiful.” This ends with, “And crown thy good with brotherhood; From sea to shining sea!”
“If you get nothing else out of this ceremony today, I hope that there’s a statement made that today, this date, this time, the people gathered here from Statesboro and from Bulloch County and reaffirmed their commitment to brotherhood,” Rakoskie said afterward.
Concluding the ceremony, Shatteen added that sisterhood was included as well. “When talk about brotherhood, we don’t leave the sisters out; y’all are just as much a part,” he said.
Members of the Bulloch County Sheriff’s Office Honor Guard conducted the formal posting and retirement of the colors.