SANDPOINT — Thanks to those who serve, Americans can sleep peacefully at night.

In recognition of the country’s servicemen and servicewomen, the community’s military groups and schools have paid tribute this week to their service and dedication.

Those who are part of the “great brotherhood and sisterhood” that makes up the U.S. military are owed the country’s thanks and gratitude, Bill Stevens, commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2453.

“It is your service and sacrifice that has kept our country safe and free,” Stevens told fellow veterans and community members who attended Sunday’s Veterans Day tribute at War Memorial Field. “No matter which branch you served in, whatever your job path or how many years you served, raising your hand and committing yourself to service in the military was a brave and selfless act. One that resulted in few guarantees — of where you would be assigned, whether and where you might deploy and, in some cases, if you would return home in one piece, or at all.”

Thanks to those who serve, Stevens said Americans sleep peacefully at night and can go about their day without fear.

“Military men and women know the risks, but they accept them in many cases so that others won’t have to,” he told the several dozen people who braved the chilly, sunny afternoon to attend the tribute.

Amolng those who took the risk was Dennis Nixon, who enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps as a teenager during the Vietnam war in 1964. He trained as a combat engineer and was deployed shortly after his training was complete. It was during his second combat tour, this one in 1969, that his life changed in a blink of an eye when, during a patrol in Da Nang, he tripped a “booby trap,” causing severe injuries to his leg and abdomen. He would endure eight surgeries, including the amputation of his leg after several months in the hospital.

“Sustaining a life-changing injury so young could stop some in their tracks,” Stevens said. “But not Dennis. He became an advocate for the next 36 years, helping his fellow veterans.

“We will not leave a brother or sister behind.”

William B. Hunt, whose name is included among local soldiers killed in war, is among those who is not home. Killed in Vietnam, his body was moved by the enemy and he remains missing.

“We, as soul brothers, will keep trying to bring him home, no matter how long it takes,” Steven said.

While local veterans assist in bringing the community’s soldiers home, Stevens said the community must also keep injured veterans in its heart and mind. “Care for their wounds, mental and physical, must be addressed and taken care of,” he added.

Like Stevens, soldiers like Cary Kelly took time out of their week to speak with local students to share of their time in the military and what it meant to them as well as what the community support means to those serving.

Deployed to Vietnam as an infantry officer with the Marines, Kelly spent the next few months serving in the northern part of Vietnam. He then attended flight school and became a naval aviator and was sent to the western Pacific. After retiring, Kelly and his wife retired to Sandpoint where he has become active in the community.

Kelly and several dozen servicemen and women were honored at Sandpoint High School, greeted by the SHS student body with a sustained round of applause and a standing ovation.

Veterans Day has its origins in Armistice Day when World War I ended on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.

He talked to the students about his service, and about how those who serve knowingly do so at the risk of their own lives because they believe in the country and what it stands for.

“America — the land of the free and the home of the brave — would not exist without them,” he said.

That service includes all those who have fought for their country or who have died defending her, from the early days to those who died on Sept. 11, said Kelly.

Some join the service for the opportunity it offers, some for the adventure and others for a host of other reasons. Each serviceman or woman has their own story about why they joined, about why they served.

“Those stories and experiences bind us together,” Kelly told the students.

Also holding and binding those who serve and their fellow Americans is a love and defense of the Constitution. “In fulfilling this oath, we know that freedom has a cost and yet we take that risk.”

He called on the students to also remember the families of those who serve as well as their communities.

However the challenges of service life also come with rewards, Kelly told the students. “I can’t tell you how much of an honor it was to serve.”

Caroline Lobsinger can be reached by email at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter @CarolDailyBee.