BELLA VISTA – Sweatered, hooded, gloved, about 100 people braved the weather, gathering in a huddled mass against the wind Saturday at the Veterans Wall of Honor.

A good showing compared to recent years, but not for Capt. Mark Golaway, a chaplain in the Arkansas Army National Guard, who longs for a return to the days of parades and nationwide celebrations.

He looked out over the crowd and saw “mostly vets and veterans’ families. “The entire population of Bella Vista, he said, should have been there.

“Have we as a nation forgotten what it is to wave the flag ? “Golaway asked. “Why do we settle, as veterans, for a small group to celebrate those who have gone before ?

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