PLAINS — President Jimmy Carter was among the U.S. armed services veterans who spoke at a Veterans Day appreciation program held Saturday in Plains.

Following the presentation of colors by the JROTC unit of Americus-Sumter County High School and the Pledge of Allegiance and National Anthem by Gabe Laster, a Jimmy Carter National Historic Site Park ranger, Korean era veteran Milton Raven offered a brief prayer. Along with Carter, a large audience enjoyed remarks from Herbert Moon, Lt. Col. Danny Ledford, Thomas Holloway and State Rep. Mike Cheokas, R-Americus.

Ninety-three-year-old Herbert Moon of Americus was a surgical technician in the U.S. Army during World War II. He was part of a group of volunteer medics that was formed for the invasion of France. He received combat training from British commandoes.

“They knew what it was all about and they knew just what we needed to know,” Moon said, adding that the training was physically and mentally exhausting. In the beginning, the medic volunteers trained 14 hours a day.

“After that it got worse,” Moon said.

The men learned to treat the wounded under actual combat conditions, from their knees or even lying on their stomachs. After five months of training, Moon said the group had gotten tough, “or at least we thought we were,” he quipped.

The last two tests, before going into combat, were to care for wounded soldiers under machine gun fire while only 36 inches above the ground and to make a 28-mile run with a full medical pack (90 to 100 pounds) with a five-minute rest every mile. It was 1944; Moon was 25.

“I remember looking back across the English Channel just before daylight, June the sixth, 1944, and thinking ‘this isn’t possible, no person could drive so many ships into such a small space.’ It looked like you could walk from England to France without even getting your feet wet,” Moon said.

As the sun came up, the Normandy landing looked even more impossible. Moon said they knew there were mines and traps on shore.

“Don’t ever let anybody tell you they weren’t scared because that’s not possible. I found out right then, that I’d never been scared before. And then, the order came,” Moon said, “Unload.”

He and four other medics from his group were on the first landing craft that reached shore. As they unloaded, the big ships shelled the beach. The craft nearest to them was blown up, and all aboard were killed. The men batted the barbed-wire structures and 200 ft.-tall cliffs loomed over the beach. They were equipped with climbing gear; however, they did not know an entire German division awaited them on top.

“We were sitting ducks for them, shooting down at us,” Moon explained.

He said that day, now known as D-Day, was his worst experience of the war. He recounts there being more dead soldiers than alive, and so many wounded that it took them three days to reach the top of the bluffs. At one point during the chaos, Moon was treating a wounded soldier when a shell hit nearby. He deduced that he had been knocked unconscious. When he came to, he was still holding a piece of a syringe in his hand, but the soldier was gone.

“There were plenty of bad experiences, but nothing to compare with that and it still bothers me at times,” Moon said.

Of the medics Moon trained with, only seven survived the war. He joined up with the 29th infantry division and pressed on toward Paris onto Luxembourg, Belgium, and finally to Germany. He was discharged Dec. 16, 1945.

Next, Lt. Col. Danny Ledford, U. S. Marine Corps, addressed the audience, saying as a Marine, Veterans Day is significant because Nov. 10 marks the 237th birthday of the Marine Corps.

Ledford said it is important for communities to honor the sacrifices of veterans.

“On this day we pause to recognize our nation’s veterans, to extend our gratitude for their sacrifices and thank them for their service,” he said.

He saluted the families of service men and women for their hardships while their loved ones stand guard around the globe.

Following Ledford, Thomas Holloway, commander of the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) post in Americus addressed the audience, saying that the first Plains Veterans Day appreciation ceremony was being dedicated to honor veterans of World War I. Holloway said he was one of “four Holloway boys” from Plains that went into service after graduating high school.

Holloway gave a synopsis of the events of  World War I and the events leading up to one of the bloodiest wars ever fought. He concluded with a reading of John McCrae’s 1915 poem “In Flanders Field,” about the death of a Canadian artillery commander.

State Rep. Mike Cheokas addressed the audience and shared experiences of his late father, Arthur Cheokas, who served in the U.S. Army Air Corps in World War II.

“I appreciate and am grateful for and am honored by the service of our veterans,” Cheokas began.

The elder Cheokas was a master sergeant in the 8th Air Force, serving as a waist gunner on a B-17. Cheokas explained that by today’s standards, the technology during World War II was primitive as the bombers like his father served on were open with no pressurization. They wore oxygen masks to breathe and layered clothing to keep them warm.

Cheokas shared one of his father’s stories about flying over Germany in “horrendous” flak.

While they were flying in formation, Master Sgt. Cheokas was communicating Morse code with a flash light to a waist gunner in another plane.

“As they were receiving the flak, they had a direct hit in the plane that he was communicating to and that plane and all 10 members blew up instantly, right in front of my father’s eyes,” Cheokas said.

Cheokas said his father took his family to Bury St. Edmunds, England, where his base was in World War II where he signed his name on the wall in the control tower with the other service personnel who have returned. Cheokas concluded by thanking the veterans for their service and a quote from Winston Churchill: “It’s not enough to do our best, sometimes we have to do what is required.”

“I think that exemplifies the service and sacrifice that are veterans do to protect our freedoms,” Cheokas said.

President Jimmy Carter, a veteran of the Navy, followed Cheokas, welcoming visitors to Plains saying that the Veterans Day program is one of the most memorable occasions that could be experienced.

He recalled his ancestral history that includes many veterans dating back to the Revolutionary War. His great-grandfather and great-uncle served in the Civil War, both fighting at Gettysburg. His father was a first lieutenant in World War I.

Carter volunteered at age 18 for the Navy, went to the Naval Academy in Annapolis and served on two battleships and three submarines. His brother Billy was in the Marines. His son Jack, although enrolled at Georgia Tech, quit college and volunteered to serve in Vietnam.

“So, I, like all of you, can look back on my family’s history and remember the times when we felt necessary to go to war to defend our country’s freedom and our own interest and also protect the interest of many other people,” Carter said.

He recalled as President, holding a reception for key military leaders during his first week in the White House. As he and his wife Rosalynn greeted the high ranked officials, “The main thing they said was ‘Mr. President, we hope you keep our country at peace,’” Carter said.

He pointed out that keeping our country at peace is the main purpose of our military — to protect us from any challenge and discourage attackers.

“What makes us strong and proud as Americans, is to look back and see the thousands who have given their lives in service of our country and to .. .make sure we are able if necessary and willing, even eager on occasion, to devote our lives to the principals that have kept our country free.” Carter concluded.

The program concluded with the playing of Taps by bugler, Mike Saliba of Americus.