Students inspire
veterans
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November 10, 2011 |
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The entire
student body at Valley View Elementary
went out in the cold Thursday morning
for a special flag raising ceremony in
honor of Veteran's Day. There were
several veterans of American Legion Post
55 in attendance, who came out of a
sense of duty. The reception they
recieved left several of them near
tears. |
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November 10, 2011 |
The members of Bonners Ferry American Legion
Post 55, veterans of all of our nation's armed
services; Navy, Marines, Army, Coast Guard, Air
Force, do routine duty during the many events in
Boundary County where solemnity is due. Memorial
Day is possibly the most recognized ... Veteran's
Day hasn't, until now, been considered quite as
important.
That may have changed.
 Our Legion veterans received an amazing surprise
today, as they participated in special flag
raising ceremonies at Bonners Ferry's local
schools, starting with Valley View Elementary at
8 a.m.
As anyone who has ever served in the military
knows, half the time you spend is in "hurry up
and wait" mode. A good many arrived at Valley
View even before the buses did, and students
were awed to find men and women they'd not seen
before holding the door open for them as they
came rushing in. People in desert camoflauge,
people in American Legion attire ... people
wearing various pieces of military uniform ...
young, old, middle aged.
With typical military precision, nobody really
knew what was going on.
For the veterans, situation normal.
But as they stood in the entryway, discussing
protocol , every veteran there was drawn away
from such concerns by the students walking by
... students who saw the uniforms, who saw the
veterans in them. Some just smiled as they
walked past, others stopped to say hello, some
even stopped to say, "thank you."
Parents, teachers and staff did much the same.
It was a welcome few of the veterans expected.
Many of them hadn't quite reconciled to hearing
"thank you."
In a way, the delay was a good thing. George
Kalb and John Tucker were running just a little
bit late, but they arrived as students got
settled and Valley View Principal Gary Pflueger
was able to step in and choreograph.
With military precision, the veterans stumbled
out the door and formed up in line on the
sidewalk, Sergeant First Class Lawrence
Jefferson and Staff Sergeant Chris McGuire
standing ready to hoist the colors, at
crisp attention.
Moments later, as the veterans stood ready,
Valley View teachers came out in a line that
would make any veteran proud, followed by their
students ... amazingly quiet, amazingly solemn.
Barely a voice was heard as those many children fell into
place. As they were directed to position by
their teachers and principal, a school bus pulled up, and a
few of the young students whispered that it was the
high school band, there to play the National
Anthem.
The high school band, carrying instruments and
other needed accouterments, fell into position
with precision, and a remarkable stage was set.
George Kalb called the veterans to attention,
the flag soared aloft with military precision, a
row of veterans, young and old, saluting the
colors with the pride only those who sacrificed
might know.
 Hands over hearts, Principal Pflueger led his
students in the Pledge of Allegience. While they
could have, not a single student, teacher or
parent abstained. When they raised their voice
singing the National Anthem, a few tears were
seen in the eyes of the veterans, some as old as
World War II, some as young as Afghanistan.
What really hit the veterans of this community
hard came at the end of the ceremony when,
unbidden, little hands reached up to the older
hands of those standing in that line of
veterans, men and women who'd served in wars and conflicts
from World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm
and now, and passed up beautifully colored cards
of thanks ... children who demanded the
opporuntiy to say "thank you," and who seemed to
well understand the true meaning of Veteran's
Day and the contributions made by those local heroes
who've served.
Those children stayed out in the cold
considerably longer than they had to, waiting
patiently in line, to render heart-felt
"thank-yous" that touched the hearts of these
tough old vets, many of whom wept tears of
gratitude, many getting a "welcome home" many
long years denied.
You might not know it, as our veterans seem to
be a curmudgeonly group who are loathe to talk
about what they did once upon a time. A local
"Santa" who greets and delights kids at
Christmas who is and was an elite member of the
Army Special Forces and who has earned an
education most of us would envy. Navy SEALs,
submariners. Airborne paratroopers. Fighter
pilots in the Air Force, Navy and Marines.
Grunts, clerks, cooks, medics.
One and all, this community is home to so mamy
veterans who answered the call, served their
country well, and came home to serve their
community quietly and equally well; a list of
heroes too long to chronicle.
It appears that a younger generation, epitomized
by the kids at Valley View, have a true sense of appreciation.
"I've never seen anything like it," said
Legion Chaplain Mike Ashby, a Navy veteran of
Vietnam. "I wasn't expecting it."
Shook him up so much he locked his keys in his
truck, and he had to worry if his wife, Linda,
would arrive in time to let him attend to his
duties at the High School and Junior High.
Like any member of a military family, she did.
You see, it's not just those who carry out the duties
of a nation and face the rigors of service to
our country, it's the support they get from family,
friends and the people at home. The veteran may
sacrifice, but so, too, do the husbands, wives,
mothers, fathers and children who stand and wave
all those tearful goodbyes, sending someone they
love into harm's way.
No soldier, sailor, airman or Marine goes alone
... in berths and barracks around the world,
they all remember and talk about home.
Today, many of our veterans discovered why what they
sacrificed mattered ... it was etched in the
respect on the faces of the
kids at Valley View, whom they pray will never have to face such
challenge as they had to face ever again.
That a generation might experience peace, and
never again have to suffer the rigors or
sacrifice of war. That their service to their
nation might have made a difference, leaving, at
last, the generation before them in a place
better than the one bequeathed them.
As a boy, I helped my Dad polish his boots and
shine his brass at 0400 hours. I cried twice as
he kissed my Mom goodbye and shook my hand,
telling me I had to be the "man of the house"
for awhile, then hoisted his duffel bag and
walked off to war, an infantryman in the United
States Army going away to Vietnam. So, too, did
my wife, Debbie, the daughter of a Green Beret,
whose service called him away more often than he
was ever home, who stayed "in country" in
Vietnam for seven years, serving this nation's
interest in a land far from home while his wife
and children kept the home fires burning.
I met Debbie outside the base bowling alley in
Fort Bragg, North Carolina, fresh from boot camp
and AIT at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and jump school
at Fort Benning, Georgia. I was a buck-nothing
private far from home. I don't know why she
singled me out, but she did, and we married
about the time I got my first stripes sewn on.
I left the Army at the end of my first
enlistment, a buck sergeant with several awards
and honors, but having never been asked to ply
the trade I learned as an artilleryman in the
crucible of war.
Most veterans wouldn't tell you such things, but
after leaving the Army, I had the misfortune of
becoming a journalist, and telling things is
what I do. I had the great good fortune of
finding Bonners Ferry, Idaho, where I've lived
now for over 20 years ... the longest either my
wife or I have ever spent in one place.
She and I both agree that after lives spent
traveling the world as military brats following
our fathers, this is the first place that's ever
felt like "home."
Debbie and I aren't alone ... and today, at
Valley View Elementary, I saw why. |
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