Mike Wolanin | The Republic Members of the Bartholomew County Veterans Honor Guard fire a rifle volley during the annual Veterans Day ceremony at the Bartholomew County Memorial for Veterans in Columbus, Ind., Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023.
Kent Anderson may be best known locally as a Columbus city councilman. In the Indianapolis business community, he’s known for leading the Emerging Manufacturing Collaboration Center.
But in military circles, Anderson has built up a resume so impressive that the 56-year-old was chosen to be keynote speaker for Monday’s annual Veterans Day service in Columbus.
The program begins at 11 a.m. at the Bartholomew County Memorial for Veterans, southwest of the courthouse.
Anderson was a 1990 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy. It would be 32 years later before he retired as a Lt. Colonel in the Army National Guard in 2022.
During his 32 years of military service, Anderson was first a naval officer deployed in support of Operation Desert Storm, the Bosnian Crisis and the pre-invasion blockade of Haiti.
After joining the Army National Guard in 2005, Anderson became part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He would later work to improve the U.S. military’s capacity in the Middle East, as well as part of the fight against the Islamic State in Syria.
There have been some recent changes to the Veteran’s Day event in Columbus. A few years ago, a veterans’ planning committee moved the reading of the names of local veterans who have died over the past year. It’s now held on Memorial Day in late May.
Monday’s service is intended to be a complete tribute to veterans and the service they did for our country, committee member Zack Ellison said.
If the weather is good, Ellison said the ceremony is known to attract up to 150 people.
“We may be off 10 to 15% in attendance because it’s Monday,” Ellison said. “But the truth of the matter is that most of the people who show up are retired.”
While he says he wishes more of the general public would attend the ceremony, Ellison says he’s impressed that those in attendance represents a good cross-section of the community who all remain very solemn about the tribute.
Traditional features of the Veterans Day program include patriotic music, the Southern Indiana Pipes and Drums and the laying of wreaths at the memorial. Members of the Bartholomew County Veterans Honor Guard will provide a three-volley salute, a ceremonial act to honor the deceased, followed immediately by the playing of “Taps.”
