WASHINGTON, DC – Darke County Veterans Richard Gigandet, Richard Glick, Rolland “Sonny” Clark, and Robert Grieshop had the honor of participating in the wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery on the recent Darke County Veterans Services annual trip to Washington, DC.
The four oldest Darke County Veterans making the DC trip were selected to participate, with Gigandet and Glick having the honor of laying the wreath.
Richard Gigandet, a resident of Versailles, enlisted in the U.S. Army at the age of 17 and served from 1957 to 1959 with an artillery unit stationed in Germany.
“Laying the wreath was a big privilege and honor,” said Gigandet. “How many people don’t get to do it? You grab the wreath and then you start walking up there and … gee, what am I doing here?”
At the pre-ceremony instructions, a Tomb Guard Sergeant gave instructions, inquiring whether a hand over the heart or a hand salute was preferred while Taps were played.
“I still salute,” Gigandet stated. “It doesn’t get any better than that.”
Greenville’s Richard Glick served in the U.S. Army from 1962 to 1964, spending 20 months as a medic at Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawaii.
“It was quite an honor to serve because my birthday is Veterans Day, and I wanted to put that wreath up there so bad that it had the emotions just come out of me,” Glick said. “I am so proud and honored to have done that.”
“I wanted my grandkids and my great-grandkids when I am gone to say, great-grandpa put the wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier,” continued Glick. “It got to me while I was standing there in line, and I thought, I can’t get any more proud of myself or anything else than that.”
Glick was also honored to render the hand salute while Taps was being played.
“It reminded me and made me feel like I was still in the service, and I wanted to show that respect, and the young Sergeant that was there with us said, ‘Do you want to put your hand over your heart, or do you want to salute?’, and I said, Salute right off the bat.”
Both men were pleased to meet new local veterans on the trip, representing five branches of the U.S. military service.
“We might razz each other as far as your service and that sort of thing, but we are all brothers and we all come together if we are all needed,” Glick stated. “I am tickled to death to meet some of these guys around here, and it shows no matter what our age is, we don’t forget what we did, and we don’t forget what they did for the country as well as ourselves.”
