RUMFORD — The sweetness of enduring peace has always been tainted by the bitterness of personal sacrifice, the vice commander of the local American Legion Post told a Veterans Day gathering Thursday.

“We are compelled to never forget that while we enjoy our daily pleasures, there are others who have endured, and still be enduring, the agonies of pain, deprivation and imprisonment,” Jack Blanchard, vice commander of Napoleon Ouellette Post 24, said.

It is time to remember “our men and women who set aside their civilian pursuits to serve their nation’s cause in defending the freedom of mankind and preserving our precious American heritage,” he said. “We believe our determination made us better warriors as we fought with our minds and our hearts, as well as our bodies.”

“We recognize service to our country and its cause does not end with the termination of military service,” Blanchard said. “We continue our endeavors on behalf of honorable world peace, with a feeling of profound gratitude to God, and to the men and women who gave their lives as part of the cost to the noblest of causes.”

Blanchard said military service is not for the faint of heart.

“Transitional challenges, the stress of military life, and feelings of isolation all factor into a suicide rate among veterans that’s more than 50% higher than that of non-veteran adults, he said. “The stigma of seeking help needs to end.”

“Veterans value courage,” he said. “It takes courage to ask for help. Ask and encourage veterans to seek help before they pass the point of no return.”

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