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Sheldon High School recognizes local veterans
Daily Mail
Sheldon High School held a school-wide assemble Tuesday to honor local veterans, families of veterans and current servicemen, taking time to individually recognize those veterans in attendance and to remind everyone to honor those veterans they come in contact with.
During the assembly, all veterans were asked to stand to be recognized, each giving their name and branch of service. Those included current members of the military, veterans from past wars and even a student who recently joined the national guard.
Family members also received recognition and got to share who in their family served or are serving and in what way. Young students and senior members of the community proudly spoke of the sacrifices of their family members from World War I to the recent war on terror.
"We feel a sense of gratitude for all of our veterans and for all that you have done for us," Carly Claflin, a student at Sheldon High School, said. "Sometimes we take our freedom for granted, but at least, for one day, we are able to show how important these people are to us."
Keynote speaker Julie Casey, of the Sheldon Board of Education and a member of the Missouri National Guard for a few years beginning in 1988, said the phrase "thank you for your services" has become a trite and careless phrase for some. Instead, she encouraged the audience to find ways to honor and help soldiers and veterans -- and not just on Veterans' Day, but every day of the year.
Casey suggested letters and care packages that can be sent to current servicemen. The school also announced Vietnam veterans care packages they put together for those who fought during that war.
But Casey, who considers her chief contribution to be as a military family member, said supporting soldiers' families through that time of isolation will be an even greater blessing.
"The best way to take care of a soldier is to take care of their family while they're deployed," Casey said.
Sometimes those family members merely want to talk about their deployed family members. Likewise, Casey said veterans sometimes just want to talk about their experiences with the military, whether they were deployed or remained stateside.
"History books can give you the facts," Casey said. "But they can't give you the stories and they can't give you the opinions."
Casey said citizens can honor veterans not only by offering kind words and a listening ear, but also by honoring the flag and performing civic duties such as voting -- a freedom and right those veterans fought for Americans to have.
Staff Sgt. Brian Nuding, a member of the Missouri National Guard for the past 14 years and a graduate of Sheldon High School, said he enjoyed and appreciated the event and speaking with the students after the assembly.
The sophomore American Government class hosted the longstanding, Veteran's Day tradition, which it began organizing early in the school year. Students also provided the music through songs performed by the band and the third through sixth grade classes.