Tuesday, in honor of Veterans Day, Todd Kaminiski, Lt. Colonel, US Marine Corps rang the bell.
By SYLVIA BENAVIDEZ
Contributing Writer
Trinity Episcopal Church, Marshall, joined many other churches and organizations across the U.S. ringing the Bells of Peace at 11 a.m. on the 11th day on the 11th month. The ringing and service honor when the Armistice was signed by Ferdinand Foch, Field Marshal of France to end World War I in 1918. Armistice Day Bell ringing celebrated peace and eventually turned into Veterans Day, a day to honor all living veterans.
Marshall’s Presbyterian Church rang their bells at the same time Tuesday,
Trinity Episcopal’s congregation decided to take part in the tradition this year with three veterans leading the service. Deacon Thom McPherson, Ret. Commander US Navy, read prayers from the Armed Forces Prayer Book.
Todd Kaminiski, Lt. Col. Retired, who served for 23 years in the US Marine Corps, rang the bell for his second time but this time solo. Kaminski, who worships at the Catholic Church, and helps out at Trinity, considers himself an avid patriot, and also knows peace comes with a price. He said, “Nobody likes to fight but somebody always has to know how.”
Kaminiski’s dedication to the Constitution and love of service were influenced by his grandfather and his father. “They both served in the Army. My dad served during the Korean War and my grandfather… he served in World War II. He crossed Europe and was at D-Day plus.”
Kaminiski’s great uncle fought in the South Pacific at Guadalcanal as a Marine.
Kaminiski hopes the fragile peace in the Middle East holds. “I was involved with that in 23 years of service. I have seen it all come and go.” He was stationed in Iraq and Kuwait. He shared that the people of the Middle East have a glorious history and said, “It was amazing to see things you only read about in the Bible.”
The violence of those wars affect him even to this day. He has a service dog to help him deal with his PTSD. He credits his wife for staying with him through his journey of dealing with PTSD. Kaminski was in the initial 2003 invasion of Iraq and was in the second battle in Fallujah. He said, “It was a tough one for the Marines.” He explained, “Urban combat is very disorientating and buildings, whether they become rubble or remain, you have to clear them all.”
On Veterans Day, he said it is a time to remember the living. “It’s really strange. It’s supposed to be solemn yet it’s in celebration of the veteran that is still alive and still sees their duty to their country and their community. They need to be celebrated as well.” Kaminski said that it means so much when civilians recognize veterans’ service and thank them. “That handshake, to be recognized, means so much.”
Kaminiski believes in the peace of Christ. “I am a person that believes you can share the wealth. Why are we fighting when we can be doing business together?” Coming home from battle taught him a lesson. “You work for peace every day,” he said. Even though his service cost him personally and he sees as he said, “Yeah, it’s troubling times,” his faith in the United States has not wavered. “It’s still a great honor to be a warrior for the greatest country in the world and no matter what your slant is, I am always going to be there for you. As officers, we take oath of office and that is to the Constitution of the United States not to any president or any human being.”
Karl Loomis, Ret. Captain U.S Medical Corps,. who read prayers during the service served in the Navy as a medical doctor and spent much of his life in the early ‘70s in a nuclear submarine, USS Pollack. “We were designed to chase the Russians up north and also in the Mediterranean.” Of the commemoration he said, “We did some prayers for people who are in-service and for veterans and for all the people that support them. I read three prayers, and we sang “My Country Tis of Thee.”
He shared his thoughts on peace. “If we don’t have peace, we won’t have any world left. Nuclear weapons are nothing to be fooled around with… We’ve never had peace in the world. There’s always a war going on. It’s in human nature so I look at it more as trying to limit the damage,” he said. ”All you have to do is take an economics class to understand why there is war.”
Loomis described how he and others felt about serving his country on a submarine during the Cold War. “Everybody knew why they were there. We were pursuing the Russians…,We were there to keep them away from the United States.”
Loomis said the Commemoration service meant a lot to him and that the veterans who were there were mostly from the Vietnam generation. He hopes the church continues the commemorations and that it will mean something to future armed service members.
