‘We Honor Their Commitment To Defend Our Nation’: New Canaan Marks Veterans Day with VFW-Led Ceremony at Town Hall

The distinguished Prussian Army veteran Gen. Baron von Steuben discovered something unexpected when he entered the winter encampment for the Continental Army at Valley Forge, Pa. in early 1779, with authorization from Congress and backed by a letter from Benjamin Franklin. 

The baron immediately made a favorable impression on the American soldiers, including Gen. George Washington, and took it upon himself “to assess the discipline and effectiveness of these Continental soldiers,” according to U.S. Army Major General Thomas Bouchard, who retired from the military in 2023 following a distinguished 39-year career. 

“As training commenced, the baron quickly noticed something very different about these Continental soldiers,” Bouchard told a standing-room-only crowd packed into the Town Hall Meeting Room for VFW Post 653’s annual Veterans Day ceremony. 

Continuing his keynote address, Bouchard said, “These Americans, he [von Steuben] noted, do not necessarily like being told what to do. These new American soldiers—recently farmers and shopkeepers—were a new breed of fiercely independent individuals who were unaccustomed to blind obedience.”

The Americans’ “tendency to ask questions about why they were being trained a certain way reflected a new and distinctly American culture that was developing across the colonies,” Bouchard added.

“These Continental soldiers embodied a new American ethos that increasingly valued self-sufficiency, individualism and independence—the same characteristics that were driving the Americans to seek political separation from the crown,” he said, citing multiple sources as references, including “The Fate of the Day” by Rick Atkinson.

And in the two-and-a-half centuries since then, Bouchard said, “the development of leadership within the U.S. military has grown from the lessons of General von Steuben at Valley Forge.”

“By consistently having to answer the question ‘why,’ [the military] trains, plans and operates in the way it does,” he said. “The U.S. military has developed stronger leaders and more adaptable and effective soldiers. These leadership principles, refined and adapted over time, have come to define American prowess on the battlefield. The ability for U.S. soldiers to take the initiative and innovate has been the true strength of the U.S. military through the battles of World War I and II, and into the conflicts of the modern era.”

And even as new technology spreads in the form of drones, AI and disruptive communications, Bouchard said, “initiative, ingenuity and the decentralization of decision making have become critically important.”

“The bloody war in Ukraine has become an unfortunate, brutal test bed for advancing technologies,” he said. “History has shown that the American soldier is most capable when he is allowed to take the initiative, adapt to the situation, and accomplish the mission through innovation and determination. Baron von Steuben recognized it 250 years ago when a Continental soldier asked him why. Americans are different, and American soldiers are strongest when they understand what is to be accomplished. And are empowered to develop and apply new innovative solutions to achieve the objective as it was then.”

Since the nation’s founding nearly 250 years ago, “our proud veterans have carried forward these attributes, and use them to make tremendous long-lasting contributions after service in uniform,” Bouchard said.

“Our veterans have founded companies, built new industries, led organizations, and even sometimes positively contributed to government,” he said. “So today, we honor the service of our veterans, recognize their sacrifices and those of their families. From our first veterans to our most recent, we honor their commitment to defend our nation, recognize their contributions to making a better America, a better, more prosperous country. God bless America.”

Bouchard’s keynote address anchored a stirring ceremony on the second floor of Town Hall led by VFW Post 653 Commander Mike McGlinn that included buglers (New Canaan High School freshman Joe Diamantis and senior Lylah Spring) who played “Taps,” presentation of colors by a combined Police and Fire Department Color Guard, Pledge of Allegiance, prayers led by VFW Chaplain Brian Vanderheyden, placement of wreath and comments from Maryalice Gelhaus of the Hannah Benedict Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, reading out of the names of local veterans who have passed since the last Veterans Day, comments from First Selectman Dionna Carlson, reading of “In Flanders Field” and a tolling of bells on God’s Acre.

Vanderheyden noted in an opening prayer that this year is the 107th anniversary “of the end of the war to end all wars.”

“We call upon You to bless our veterans and all who serve our nation, defending our freedom,” he said. “For those who bravely gave their lives, grant them eternal rest. For those who are serving, give them courage. For those who have served, we offer our gratitude. Bless all our veterans, dear Lord, and bless their families for their sacrifices, as well. Protect all who are serving now and bring them home safely. Let us always remember in prayer those special people who made it possible for us to be here today.”

In addition to Carlson, town officials in attendance included Selectmen Steve Karl and Amy Murphy Carroll and current and newly elected Town Council members Tom Butterworth, Lina Lee and Heather Russell. 

Gelhaus in her remarks called Veterans Day “a moment to pause to remember that freedoms we enjoy are not granted lightly.”

“They are earned and safeguarded through generations of service and sacrifice,” she said. “Each veteran here today and those no longer with us has carried forward a legacy that began with the very first patriots who fought for independence nearly 250 years ago.”

Gelhaus described her own family connection to American independence in the form of Frederick Metzger, a German immigrant who settled in Pennsylvania with his parents at age 17 and volunteered to join the Continental Army as a drummer and a private.

“He endured the brutal winter of Valley Forge, one of the darkest times of the revolution, and yet he survived,” she said. “He returned home to the Lehigh Valley, married, had 10 children and lived to be 83 years old. A reminder that even after great hardship, life and hope can flourish.”

Carlson introduced Bouchard, saying his “remarkable career reflects the very best of American service and leadership.” 

He enlisted in the Army Reserve in 1984 and was commissioned through the Reserve Officer Training Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1988. Bouchard completed the Army Special Forces Qualification Course in 1993 and transitioned to service in the Rhode Island Army National Guard in 1997. During most of his service,  Bouchard was assigned to US Army Special Forces units, he commanded at the Operational Detachment and company levels in the 5th and 19th Special Forces Groups and served as Commander of Special Operations Detachment-Global. Bouchard’s deployments include operations in Haiti, Kuwait, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan. His awards include the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit and the Bronze Star. During his service, Bouchard earned the Master Combat Infantryman Badge, Special Forces Tab, Ranger Tab, Master Parachutist Badge, Pathfinder Badge and Air Assault Badge.

McGlinn, in the tradition of his predecessor in the role of VFW commander, the late Peter Langenus, recited “In Flanders Field,” noting that the poem had been written by John McCrae, a physician in the Canadian Army in 1915.

“The poem was meant to honor the sacrifices of those who gave their lives in the battle of Ypres in 1915,” McGlinn said. “It is written from the point of view of the deceased soldiers. The day before he wrote the poem, one of his closest friends was killed in the fighting and was buried in a makeshift grave with a simple wooden cross.”

After reading the poem, McGlinn said he wanted to take a moment “to honor a special World War I veteran.”

“He was 17 years old from Reading, Pennsylvania, a private first class in the Army, and he spent a year in 1918 in France,” McGlinn said. “He was involved in six battles, including the Battle of Meuse–Argonne, the battle that ended the war. There were 4,000 Americans killed in that 42 day battle. And 96,000 Americans were wounded. The young soldier returned home safely and began to work as a trial lawyer for the Travelers Insurance Company in New York City for 45 years.”

McGlinn added, his voice breaking, “His name was Barney McGlinn, my father.”