The cool morning air began to warm almost on cue as people, civilian and military, gathered on the southeast lawn of the Denton County Courthouse on the Square. Decorated men and women of the armed forces milled about, shaking hands, smiling, saluting and even hugging their fellow veterans and the many people gathered to honor them.

Dennis Boots, of the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 920, led the Veterans Day event that opened with a flyover by a UH-1 Huey helicopter.

“A veteran — whether active duty, retired, National Guard or reserve — is someone who at some point in his or her life wrote a blank check made payable to the U.S.A. for an amount up to and including their life,” Boots said. “That is honor and what it means to be a veteran.”

The program featured the Greenwood Quartet singing patriotic tunes, and retired Capt. Mark Hannah of the U.S. Marine Corps laying a wreath at the veterans memorial on the courthouse lawn.

The keynote speaker for the event was retired Col. Larry Purcell.

In light of the Fort Hood shootings last week, Purcell spoke about the radical side of Islam, the origins of it and its dislike for the West and the U.S.

DRC/Barron Ludlum

World War II veteran Marine Cpl. Donald Boots gave the invocation at the Veterans Day ceremony on the Square on Wednesday.

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Purcell criticized President Obama and praised the actions of former President George W. Bush. Purcell also commended some of the men in charge of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Operation Desert Storm veteran Scott Kinder attends the program annually, feeling inspired by the brotherhood shared by the veterans, he said.

Kinder’s father was a Vietnam War veteran, and he said part of the reason he attends is to honor him.

“Obviously, Denton is a proud, military-supporting community,” Kinder said, while looking around at the crowd. “There are a lot of good men and women here.”

Korean War veteran Jim Heath said not all veterans get their due honors. “They never get enough and some do more than others,” he said.

Heath recalled walking into Korea on New Year’s Day in 1952. When he returned from that war, he said people didn’t even know he was gone.

But Veterans Day is the best way to honor past, present and future veterans, Heath said.

“And there will be future veterans.”

BJ LEWIS can be reached at 940-566-6875. His e-mail address is blewis@dentonrc.com .