For Colonel Timothy M. White of the U.S. Air Force, Veterans Day is not only a chance for the nation to honor those who served, but a reminder of what is at stake in Iraq and Afghanistan.

White delivered the main address during Marion’s Veterans Day ceremony on Nov. 11, during which he expressed the importance of the U.S. presence in the Middle East.

“In order to protect our freedom at home, we need to promote freedom around the world,” White said.  “We need to because it is the right and the noble thing to do.  We brave the elements to make sure that people are treated humanely because it’s the decent thing to do. The humane thing to do.”

White denounced the “cowardly actions” of terror organizations, and saluted the veterans present at the ceremony as well as servicemen and women stationed around the world. White then asked for a moment of silence from the audience to remember those who have fallen, who include White’s grandfather, father, and brother.

White, a professor at the Naval War College in Newport RI, is a combat pilot who has been deployed overseas on 12 occasions. White also served in “Operation Iraqi Freedom.”

The Benjamin Cushing VFW Post 2425 of Marion gave White the task of delivering the main address. The VFW Post organized the annual event, which included music led by the Sippican School band, and the Pledge of Allegiance by Troop 32 of the Marion Boy Scouts of America.