Grade School Veteran's Day

[John Sand]

My niece invited me to a Veteran's Day celebration at school today. Many veteran's were there, including WWII guys. The kids read poems honoring the vets, sang each of the service's songs, the national anthem, and the preamble to the constitution. Many of these lovely children shook our hands and thanked us. In an era when we too often hear of negative reflections of our nation, it was very uplifting to be at a school full of proud Americans, children being taught to value freedom and sacrifice.
A few of those tough old guys got a bit weepy. I was very moved myself.

[FedoraDave]

That's extremely heartening. Thanks for sharing. And thanks for your service. You and all the veterans, past and present.

[mtsoxfan]

I wish that could happen in some form in middle and high school....Thanks to you and all who served.

[John Sand]

You are both very kind.
There is an event at the High School too, I've been in the past. But this one was the best.

[LouieMacGoo]

I wish that could happen in some form in middle and high school....Thanks to you and all who served.

In the last few years my daughter's high school vocal music department has held a Veteran's Day Concert that is just awesome. All Veterans and spouses get in free of charge, are given a ribbon for the occasion and treated like royalty. They have the students bring in pictures of anyone in their family that has served or is currently serving and put them all into a photo presentation while the students sing the songs from each of the military branches. At one point the veterans are invited to come up and speak and tell who they are, what branch they served in and when they served. Every year we get Vets from WWII all the way to currently serving. It is very humbling to her these men and women get up and struggle sometime as the relive some of the memories. Last year on Vietnam Vet got up and spoke and you could tell he was struggling and just as he was about to walk away he stopped and said, "This is the first time I feel that I have been truly welcomed home." That right there had the whole audience in tears and I still get choked up when I think about it. But I was so happy that these kids were able to do that for him and so many others. It really makes me proud of these kids, gives me hope for the future and above all makes me proud of all of you that have served our country!

[Brewbirds]

That is an very nice thing to do. Sounds like the kids worked hard and did a great job. Thanks for sharing the stories.

[John Sand]

Great story Louie. One of the Korean Vets recounted a visit to South Korea with a veteran's group two years ago. He said that everywhere he went, Koreans thanked him, saying that if it were not for America, they would have nothing. He also said that on the U.S., Korea is the "Forgotten War", but not in South Korea.

[mtsoxfan]

Great story Louie.... I haven't seen one first hand.... I was thinking more of an assembly style, so the students can actually experience it... unfortunately, you wouldn't get the same kind of turnout if it was an afterschool activity.

i like talking with my Uncles and friends fathers etc. about their experiences. usually any gathering it pops up and hear some great stories.

[Rebel_B]

That's pretty awesome.

[LouieMacGoo]

Just a follow up to my earlier post. This years concert was held on Veteran's Day and we had a full house. The auditorium holds about 400 and we ran out of seats and had to open the retractable back wall to the cafeteria so more people could see the concert. We had about 45 to 50 veterans come with 4 being from WWII and every veteran got up and introduced themselves, where they served and when. I was by far the best concert yet and it really makes me proud of both the veterans and the students that participated.

[Brewbirds]

AWWWESOOMME

[John Sand]

Great!