Military

Fort Hamilton holds Veterans Day ceremony

November 12, 2020 Jaime DeJesus

Photos by Amanda Hay-Caorffino

Share this:

The Fort Hamilton Army Base hosted its annual Veterans Day ceremony at the base theater on Friday, Nov. 6. The event honored all those who have served and continue to serve the nation and also marked the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II.

Dino Lamia, a Bay Ridge native and veteran of that war, was the keynote speaker. Lamia is a former president of the Brooklyn Board of Realtors and the Bay Ridge Real Estate Board and is a member of Community Board 10 and St. Ephrem’s Church.

“At our dinner table, it eventually came around to dad telling us about the Battle of the Bulge, the greatest conflict with good results,” said Lamia’s daughter Risa. “This is a man truly of his generation. I’m proud to call him my father and I know that your comrades here are proud to call you one of their own.”

After applause, Lamia addressed the crowd.

“Thank you for your honest, sincere support,” he said. “I am sorry that I can’t meet you all, but you have certainly filled a great big part of my heart for your presence.”

“We don’t join the military from the day we are born to become a soldier,” said Col. Craig Martin, Fort Hamilton’s commander. “We are citizens first of this great country. That’s what makes us strong and resilient as a nation, because then we go back to this great country, and all those things we learn in service we carry with us for the rest of our lives and we bring that to our community. And we make our community great.”