FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - U.S. flags were on display across South Florida as the region honored military men and women on American soil and abroad on Veterans Day.
As South Florida honors the service, dedication and valor of veterans on Thursday, the United Way of Broward County celebrated the life of World War II veteran Sid Rosenblatt.
“He was just the kindest, gentlest, wonderful person, so giving and so inspirational,” said Stephen Moss
with United Way’s Mission United.
Rosenblatt was 97 when he died in September. He was a husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather.
“He loved his family, he loved his community, and he lovbed his country,” said Moss, “and he was so proud to have served. He called it a privilege.”
Rosenblatt volunteered at Mission United for nearly eight years. Those who knew him called him a great friend and a community treasure.
“We want everybody to know how special he was, not just to United Way but to this community, to the veteran community, to this country,” said Kathleen Cannon, president and CEO of the United Way of Broward County.
A U.S. flag that was flown over the U.S. Capitol was given to his family.
7News spoke with Rosenblatt in November 2020.
“Whether you served in the kitchen or on the battlefield, be proud that you carry the rank of veteran. You have earned it,” he said.
Also on Thursday, retired U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Ty Carter spoke at the YMCA breakfast in Weston about his service in the Middle East.
“If we get overrun, how am I going to go down? If they break both my arms and legs, how am I going to go down?” Carter said during a speech. “Well, I still got my teeth and my forehead, and I’ll be gnawing on some ankles, so never quit, never stop, keep moving.”
Carter, a Medal of Honor recipient, was in a small unit of soldiers, alone at the remote Combat Outpost Keating. It was deep in a valley of Afghanistan between three mountains. Along with his unit, he fought in one of the most heroic battles in the Afghan War.
That battle was the subject of the 2020 film “The Outpost,” starring Scott Eastwood, Orlando Bloom and Caleb Landry Jones as Carter.
Carter discussed the battle where so many lives were lost.
“This is a 100-yard sprint, with a stretcher, with somebody on there, so I had to get the stretcher. As soon as you hear that, go out and grab everything, set it up … and then we started sprinting,” he said.
Carter kept sprinting and survived the attack, but eight other Americans were not so lucky, and on this Veterans Day, the nation honors the sacrifice of the fallen, the wounded, the surviving veterans who have given their all for this country’s freedom.
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