Flag re-dedication ceremony held in Cobden

On the traditional Armistice Day of Nov. 11, a ceremony was held in Cobden to honor the American flag.

A flag was rededicated at the former American Legion Post No. 259 building in the Union County village. The building is now owned by Todd Dietterle and Tracy Dillard in Cobden.

Those representing the American Legion at the ceremony included Red Beckley, Jeff Lingle, Rick Lingle and Tom Widdows.

The ceremony recalled on how on the 11th day of the 11th month at the 11th hour of the morning in the year of 1918, an armistice was signed which ended “The Great War,” now known as World War I.

Those who gathered exactly 100 years later for the Cobden ceremony recalled how they were honoring the flag “which symbolizes the men and women and their sacrifices of that war and all wars before or after for our homeland.”

A message shared at the ceremony further stated that: “We, the people of the United States, and Cobden, Illinois, are gathered today to honor and rededicate our beloved flag, which will soon fly again on the same pole where it flew for over 70 years...as a symbol of our unity as one people from many people, E Pluribus Unum, in the ideals of freedom and democracy, where all people are created equal, and say, in the words of President Lincoln, ‘We high resolve that...this nation under God, shall have a new birth of freedom...and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth...’ and to this we say, ‘Amen.’

“Accordingly...Let ‘Old Glory,’ our ‘Star-Spangled Banner,’ wave again.”

The ceremony also included a presentation of arms/order arms, and the singing of “God Bless America.”

Armistice Day is now commemorated as Veterans Day.