BIDDEFORD — Keith Batson doesn’t miss working in the hot, humid engine rooms of the USS La Moure County. He does miss the camaraderie of his fellow sailors.

Since the 51-year-old Desert Storm veteran returned to Maine, he’s searched for that community again in Biddeford.

Batson solemnly saluted the flag Monday morning while the Biddeford High School marching band played the national anthem at Veterans Memorial Park. The ceremony capped off the annual Veterans Day parade between the twin cities of Biddeford and Saco. Biddeford Mayor Martin Grohman, who spoke at the ceremony, said there are 1,558 veterans living in Biddeford and a similar number in Saco.

U.S. Navy veteran Keith Batson attended the Veterans Day ceremony at Veterans Memorial Park in Biddeford. Batson served in the Navy during Operation Desert Storm. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer

Batson, who lives just up the road from the park on Pool Street, said he’s talked with Grohman about how to get younger veterans like himself involved in local groups, like the American Veterans (AMVETS) and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Parades like this help raise their profile, he said.

Batson served in the Navy from 1990 to 1996 and said he’s noticed a large presence of York County veterans who served in World War II and the Vietnam War, but he hasn’t connected with many people around his age.

He pointed to the teens in uniform from the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps.

“If we don’t have these kids, and (men and women) from my era participating, then it’s going to disappear,” he said.

People watching the parade waved American flags while cheering on the local law enforcement, school marching bands and Scouting troops. One Scout stepped onto the sidewalk to hand a thank-you card to a man wearing a military cap.

Batson, wearing a leather vest adorned with Navy patches, said some people also approached him to offer gratitude for his service. But the most deserving of recognition, he said, are the spouses and family members who supported their loved ones while they were serving.

“I’m not the type of vet that feels I deserve any kind of extra recognition,” Batson said. “I served. I did a job that I felt I was called to do.”

After the parade, a crowd gathered in the park to listen to the speeches and music, and to watch the wreath-laying ceremony.

Grohman, an honorary member of the Vietnam Veterans of America post, said his goal is to bring more veterans to Biddeford.

“We’ll do that together by improving communication, breaking down those walls that exist between veterans organizations and the city, and just making sure we can be the best destination that we can be,” Grohman said in his speech.

Maine is home to more than 100,000 veterans, according to a statement from Sen. Susan Collins’ office. Pam Buck, who works in Collins’ office, read the statement aloud at the ceremony.

“We are fortunate to live in a state in which so many have served our nation, in which so many joined together to support them,” Collins wrote in a statement. “The people of Maine have always repaid their debt for our veterans with generosity and a spirit of caring.”

That means Maine has one of the highest numbers of veterans per capita in the country, Gov. Janet Mills said in a statement Monday.

“Maine veterans teach us, all of us, to cherish our rights and to remember those who gave their lives for these freedoms,” Mills said. “They teach us to remember that our sons and daughters today stand ready to defend those very rights in postings across the globe. They teach us the strong sense of responsibility that comes from hard work and hard times.”