Beavercreek honors veterans with indoor ceremony as cold moves program inside

Beavercreek Mayor Don Adams welcomed residents to the city’s Veterans Day 2025 ceremony on Tuesday, saying the program was moved indoors because of cold weather and thanking the venue host and local organizers for providing the space.

The event honored veterans, active-duty service members and their families and included presentations by Beavercreek High School’s Junior ROTC, an invocation from Pastor Delphaney Gordon of the Beavercreek Seventh-day Adventist Church, and a keynote address from a visiting foreign liaison officer attached to the Air Force Security Assistance Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

“Your sacrifice, your courage, and your commitment to the ideals of freedom and democracy sustain the very foundation of this community,” Mayor Don Adams said, thanking veterans and their families and urging the community to ensure no veteran is forgotten or left behind.

Colonel Georgios Damalis of the Hellenic Air Force, introduced by Adams as a foreign liaison officer at Wright‑Patterson, said allied militaries share a common reverence for freedom. “We value freedom more than anything,” Damalis said, invoking historical examples and thanking U.S. veterans and their families for their service.

Adams also recognized the Beavercreek Junior ROTC for presenting the colors and noted the unit’s national achievements. Victoria Wilkinson, a sixth grader at Coy Middle School, performed the bugle honors. Adams read a poem he wrote for the occasion titled “A Salute on Veterans Day” and closed the program by thanking volunteers, the Parks and Recreation Department, and visiting officers.

The ceremony included religious remarks during an invocation and musical honors; organizers noted the program’s shift indoors because of weather. No votes or municipal actions were taken during the event. The program concluded with the mayor’s closing remarks and thanks to attendees.