RICHMOND – For some veterans, serving this country meant giving their lives, Richmond American Legion Post Commander Mark Foley said during the Veterans Day ceremony at the Ray County Courthouse. “We thank them for this,” he said during the joint VFW and American Legion service. Service members defend the right to vote, regardless of differences of opinion, Foley said. “That’s what we stood for,” he said. After the Richmond High School Band played patriotic music, the audience recognized Ray Countian Ted Ishmael Thomas, 101. A World War II Navy veteran, Machinist 2nd Class Thomas served at Pearl Harbor in 1943 and worked with a machine shop team at Pearl Harbor to repair a major problem with torpedoes – they would not explode when hitting their targets. The work resulted in reworking defective firing pins so that, instead of bouncing off enemy ships, the Mark XIV torpedoes fired from submarines exploded on contact, which helped end the war. The crowd also recognized veterans from…