The red baseball-like hats, which featured a blue heart and words embroidered in white that read “Elks Love Vets,” was only a small part of Monday’s moving D-Day remembrance in Warwick.

For the fifth time in as many years, the Tri-City Elks Lodge No. 14 remembered June 6, 1944 by rolling out the red carpet in the form of a special luncheon and ceremony for many of this state’s war heroes who live at the Rhode Island Veterans Home in Bristol.

Mark Eaton, Lodge 14’s former Exalted Ruler who initiated the D-Day ceremony, said it best on the 72nd anniversary of D-Day – the pivotal World War II operation that was the first push to break Nazi Germany’s stronghold in Europe.

“We must never forget this day,” said Eaton. “We must never forget the 160,000 Allied troops that landed on the beaches in Normandy, France and that the cost of lives was high on D-Day. But their sacrifice allowed more than 100,000 soldiers to begin the slow, hard slog across Europe to defeat Adolf Hitler’s crack troops.”

While Eaton led the Elks’ army of volunteers Monday, Yasim Yarn, Rhode Island’s new Director of Veterans Affairs, called the home-cooked luncheon “a blessing and a unique way for the Elks to say thank you to these people for their great service to our country.”

Yarn, who was recently appointed to his post by Gov. Gina Raimondo, continued, “I love coming to events like this. Words cannot express what service our veterans have given to our country and this is a tremendous show of appreciation for their service.”

Lodge 14, Yarn later learned, has always had a special place in its heart for those men and women who live at the Veterans Home in Bristol. More than 40 veterans, bussed to the lodge, attended the lunch and ceremony outside that followed.

The flagpole in Rossi Park, located in back of the lodge borders what Eaton calls “Golden Pond,” has a monument at its base that reads it is dedicated to the people who live at the Bristol facility.

“Lodge 14 will never – ever – forget our veterans,” Eaton declared. “We have made this day special for each and every veteran [from the Bristol home] in this room.”

Once the main course of roasted chicken, salad and pasta was complete, Lodge 14’s arm of servers rolled out carts that contained just about every caloric creation imaginable.

“I wanted our veterans to have a real, old-fashioned banana split,’ Eaton said. “They are loaded with M & Ms, jimmies, cherries, strawberries, different flavor ice cream…and, of course, there’s whipped cream and cherries.”

There was yet another highlight on Monday’s agenda, as Lodge 14 enlisted the services of two United States Marines – as well as SMSGT Michele Senecal – along with Exalted Ruler David Knight, his wife and Eaton, who put on a unique memorial service for the veterans from the Bristol Home.

The ceremony, as men like Leading Knight Robert Hartington noted, “served as an important reminder of what all past and present veterans have done through the year to protect our freedom.”

At one point before U.S. Marine Sergeant Michael played Taps, there was a special reading “of what every American should now about Taps” as well as a passing of the flag that Senecal was presented when his daughter was killed in an automobile accident several months ago.