BOSTON—Gov. Deval Patrick says the importance of Veterans Day was driven home to him when he saw a young girl say "Hello Daddy" to her Marine father as he stood at attention while serving as a pallbearer at a funeral last week.
The governor nearly came to tears Wednesday as he told a Statehouse ceremony how sad he felt that 18-month-old Avery Van De Giesen (van-duh-GEEZ'-ann) would never get the chance to say the same thing to her father, Marine Capt. Kyle Van De Giesen.
He died Oct. 26 in a chopper collision in Afghanistan.
There also was a special guest at the ceremony: 100-year-old John Finn. He fired back at Japanese planes at Pearl Harbor and is the country's oldest surviving Medal of Honor winner.
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