2026 Patriot Day Ceremony

0:00 ♪♪♪ So Chief Drake, I think, is on his way up to the stage. He's around the corner. Okay.

0:52 All right, so I'm going to let this get kicked off by the F-15s as they take off from the airport just behind us, and they're going to make a little bit of noise, so be prepared for that. And then we'll commence with the ceremonies. Ceremonies.

1:20 While we have a moment or two waiting for our aviators to give us the kickoff, I want to note that today is a day of remembrance and certainly a salute to those who lost their lives on 9-11 and subsequently to those who died. But it's also a celebration of our first responders, be they fire, police, or any other variety of first responders who helped to keep this country safe. Sounds like the noise we've been waiting for. Yeah. Great. Thank you. Sound good?

2:20 Sounds like it's going. Oh, it's going. Yeah, he went the wrong way. Oh, here they come. Yeah. Oh, it's here. Okay.

2:50 So they are up there, but it was much easier on our ears than anticipated. All right. So before we totally give up on that, we're hearing the thunder of the sound of freedom. I wanted to give a little bit of a shout out to our unsung heroes that are a part of the folks that are making this ceremony possible. And that certainly includes the Vancouver Music Orchestra, previously known as the Vancouver Community Concert Band,

3:50 and they've been giving us the introductory music. And Neil Huss is the director for this ensemble. And Dan Herikstad is on drums. He's a retired colonel, and we're awfully happy to have them here at many of these events. Also, a little shout out to Roger Rosenberry over there, who helped to arrange things and got us our keynote speaker today. So the band, I was going to introduce them by name. We've got Neil and Dan Herikstad, Alan, Robert, Jake. There's our flyover. Jymon, Doug, Cindy, and Sam. And our VFW Honor Guard and Rifle Salute folks today are Benny Gard, who is the captain of the group.

4:49 Ron Osborne, Larry Ross, Dave Frye, Sarah Fox, and Patrick Locke. And as you may have noted on the program, we have a combination of Vancouver Fire Department and the Vancouver Police Department, who comprise our Honor Guard that will soon be posting the colors. And from the Vancouver Fire Department, we've got Tyler DeVos. Tyler DeVos is the director of the Vancouver Fire Department. And from the Vancouver Fire Department, we've got the VFW Honor Guard. Mark Patchen and Isaac Eldred. Taps will later on be done by Justin Walker. And from Vancouver Police Department, we've got Ilana Miron and Nick Copley. So again, a hand for all these folks that are our unsung heroes. Thank you.

5:49 So at this point in time, I believe it is appropriate for us to post the colors. Please do so. And again, this is a combined Honor Guard comprised of Vancouver Police Department and the Vancouver Fire Department.

6:19 So again, this is a combined Honor Guard comprised of Vancouver Police Department and the Vancouver Fire Department.

14:18 So again this is a combined Honor Guard comprised of Vancouver Police Department and the Vancouver Fire Department.

15:51 Thank you Larry. I also want to give a shout out to our frequently used chaplain, you would remember him from previous ceremonies, Donal Singleton, who also represents Submariners, Navy Veteran, at six foot three, I think he's faking it, I don't know how he ever served in submarines, but a dynamic individual and we're proud to have him as a fellow Veteran and also representing the Buffalo Soldiers.

16:40 And I think there's too many names to mention out there, but I thank all of our elected officials, candidates, and those who dedicate themselves to community for being here today. So we're going to be hearing from Mayor Ann McInerney-Ogle, from John Drake, the Chief for the Fire Department, from Troy Price, who is our Vancouver Police Chief, and from Mary Connolly, who is our Vancouver Police Chief. I also want to give a shout out to Maria Glusenkamp-Perez, our third Congressional District Representative of Southwest Washington. Another thing that has made us fortunate in Southwest Washington has been the representation that we've had over the years, Jamie Herrera-Butler, who preceded Maria, and then before that, Brian Baird, who to me was kind of the prototype of bipartisanship, of working together, collaborative work, and I think that's a really good thing.

17:40 So we're going to be hearing from Mayor Ann McInerney-Ogle, from John Drake, the Chief for the Fire Department, from Troy Price, who preceded Maria, and then before that, Brian Baird, who preceded Maria, and then before that, Brian Baird, who preceded Maria, and I think that's a really good thing. We also, somewhere out here, have Tanisha Harris representing Marie Cantwell, Senator Marie Cantwell's office.

17:53 And I think that takes care of our dignitaries in that regard, and we'll get to the folks who put together the wonderful wreath that we have, fragile as it might be, it is beautiful, and a little precarious to move along with it.