Wreath-laying ceremony marks Veterans Day event in East Lansing

Lansing State Journal

Lansing-based 1st Battalion 24th Marines 1st Sgt. Jason Gutierrez lays a wreath below a veterans memorial Friday, Nov. 8, 2019, at the Hannah Community Center in East Lansing. "Veterans Day means remembering those who make sacrifices to make this country great," he said.

EAST LANSING - Precisely at noon Friday, a bell tower in downtown East Lansing clock rang out.

In their dress blues and wearing white gloves, 1st Sgt. Jason Gutierrez and Maj. Abelardo Llamas of the Lansing-based 1st Battalion 24th Marines marched solemnly from the entrance of the Hannah Community Center to the set of memorials honoring United States Armed Forces veterans near the front entrance of the community center where a small crowd gathered.

Each armed with a wreath, the two U.S. Marines marched in silence to the markers. A U.S. flag flying at half-staff behind them completed the scene.

Maj. Abelardo Llamas of the Lansing-based 1st Battalion 24th Marines is reflected in a Medal of Honor memorial Friday, Nov. 8, 2019, at the Hannah Community Center in East Lansing. Following the wreath-laying ceremony, Maj. Lllamas said, "It gives me goosebumps to think about the magnanimity of the fact that these men and women were willing to make the ultimate sacrifice, or put their lives in peril to ensure we the freedoms we have today."

"Veterans Day means remembering those who make sacrifices to make this country great," Gutierrez said following the ceremony.

Llamas said, "When I think about the magnanimity of the fact that these men and women were willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for our country, or put their lives in peril without being so we have the freedoms we do today, I get goosebumps."