World War II veterans need your help to keep Spirit of '45 event alive

Eryka Aptaker
·3 min read

I am the Spirit of ‘45 Lee County chairman and am going into my twelfth year of holding this event which honors our WWII veterans. Meeting these wonderful men and women of our greatest generation has been an honor and a privilege, however, it also comes with sadness in having lost so many of these men and women over the years. Every year, I never know if this will be the last year in which I am going to be able to hold this event.

World War II veteran Robert Hilliard of Sanibel Island hugs Eryka Aptaker, Lee County chairman of Spirit of ’45, during the Spirit of ’45 Ceremony in 2022. Hilliard was a speaker at the event. This year's ceremony will be Aug. 13 at Heritage Palms Country Club in Fort Myers.
World War II veteran Robert Hilliard of Sanibel Island hugs Eryka Aptaker, Lee County chairman of Spirit of ’45, during the Spirit of ’45 Ceremony in 2022. Hilliard was a speaker at the event. This year's ceremony will be Aug. 13 at Heritage Palms Country Club in Fort Myers.

In the past, receiving calls from new WWII veterans left me with the feeling that I still hadn’t gotten the knowledge of this initiative out far enough. I sincerely feel that more members of our greatest generation are still out there and still haven’t heard of this initiative to honor them.

I am asking for your help, once again. Please don’t make this another year where family members tell me that they wish they would have heard about this while their WWII family member was still alive. It happens too often. Their stories need to be heard and preserved. Their legacy needs to live on.

Spirit of ’45 is a nationwide initiative. The second Sunday in August was congressionally resolved to be National Spirit of ’45 Day. The Lee County event being held on Aug. 13th, this year, is an elegant sit-down dinner followed by a veterans’ ceremony. There will be a presentation of Colors (Color Guard) along with the Pledge of Allegiance and national anthem being sung, WWII veteran guest speakers, entertainment, "Amazing Grace" played on bagpipes, flag folding ceremony, wreath ceremony, POW/MIA (Missing Man table) ceremony and so much more.

This initiative’s expiration date is nearing, as our WWII veterans are passing at an alarming rate. That doesn’t mean that I can’t do everything in my power to keep it going for as long as I can. I would like to see every person who knows a WWII veteran, refer them to me to attend this event. The dinner/ceremony is at the Heritage Palms Country Club in Fort Myers. Dinner starts at 4:15 p.m. and the ceremony should end around 7:15.

I want to see this event continue to thrive, but I can't do this without your help. There are various sponsorship levels for business sponsorships ranging from $50-$1,500+. These various levels will provide advertisement in the program and, in some of the levels, will provide tickets to the dinner/ceremony. A new sponsorship level was started for personal sponsors, called “SPONSOR-A-VET,” where you can sponsor $45 to pay for a WWII veteran’s meal and can have your name or the name of a specific WWII veteran listed in the program. (Please note that there are many other underlying expenses in holding this event).

We will keep striving to keep The Spirit of ’45 alive and sincerely hope you can attend and pay homage to these great men and women for their service. Please feel free to reach Eryka Aptaker at (917) 607-4385, or email at ejaNYYgirl@comcast.net.

Eryka Aptaker is Lee County chairperson for Spirit of '45.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: World War II veterans need your help to keep Spirit of '45 event alive