Pride and gratitude: Schools, community members observe Veterans Day

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HANCOCK COUNTY — Once a year, Hancock County residents pause in observation of Veterans Day, taking time to pay tribute to those who fought for their freedom. Because this year’s holiday fell on a weekend, the local veterans were treated to four days’ worth of programs that spanned the county.

Many of the programs brought children together with those servicemen and women of conflicts past — a chance for differing generations to join for a moment of remembrance, to share hugs and smiles and handshakes that all carry the same note of appreciation.

‘Can’t afford to forget’

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In the weeks that Sugar Creek Elementary School music teacher Katie McDaniel has spent preparing her students for the school’s Veterans Day program, she’s had the opportunity to chat with many kids about the military service that dots their family trees.

Pride and gratitude is the common theme and runs through their stories, McDaniel told a crowd of more than 100 community members — many of them relatives of Sugar Creek pupils, some dressed in uniform — who packed the school’s gymnasium Monday afternoon.

The school’s fourth-grade students entertained the visitors with patriotic songs. In between each tune, they took turns at the microphone to express what freedom means to them and offer messages of thanks to the veterans who had joined them.

“The price of freedom is high,” one student recited into the microphone. “We can’t afford to forget those willing to pay it.”

Each child at the school, as well as all the teachers and other faculty members, are so thankful for the men and women who sacrificed so much to keep their neighbors safe, McDaniel told the crowd.

This hour-long program was the least they could do to bring a smile to their faces, she said.

A way to say “thank you”

Everyone had a crayon-colored American flag glued to a Popsicle stick. And the sea of sheets of paper made a fluttering noise every time time the throng of youngsters collectively clapped their hands together, applauding the men and women in the crowd who stood to be recognized.

There in the audience at Eden Elementary School were former soldiers, airmen, sailors and Marines — the parents and grandparents of the students, who treated local veterans to a show of patriotism at their annual Veterans Day program Monday morning.

Many of the youngsters came to school decked out in red, white and blue outfits. They grinned and waved from the spots in the gym bleachers at the visitors they recognized who were seated in chairs on the gym floor.

A few students took the microphone to do short readings. A cluster of kids led the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance. And then all at once the student body took to its feet and sang “America, the beautiful.”

The chorus of little voices made a few in the crowd chuckle. It was clear by the volume with which the students sang which words they knew best.

The students look forward to this moment each year, Principal Melia Hammons told the crowd. It’s their chance to welcome their favorite veterans into their school, she said, and pay tribute to them with songs and smiles and shouts of “Thank you!”

Coming together

Seeing elementary school students take time on a Saturday to honor veterans puts a lump in Rebecca Schneidt’s throat.

Schneidt, the daughter of Herb Neal, 93, a World War II veteran who lives at Woodland Terrace in New Palestine, retired from a career as a teacher, so she knows what a big deal it is for youngsters to come and honor veterans.

Elementary school students serenaded about 40 veterans and 60 guests at a breakfast held for veterans who have participated in the Indianapolis Honor Flight, a one-day, no-cost trip to Washington, D.C., to visit memorials built in veterans’ honor.

The nonprofit organization has monthly breakfasts for veterans across the greater Indianapolis area, but the Veterans Day event is the largest, with Woodland Terrace in New Palestine, the Pacers and Yuengling Indiana teaming up to provide an amped-up experience for veterans and their families, said volunteer Kasey Collier.

Two Pacers alumni, Darnell Hillman and George McGinnis, as well as the Pacers’ mascot, Boomer, attended the breakfast, providing prizes to the oldest veterans in attendance. They also put on trivia games for the veterans.

Neal, who lives at Woodland Terrace, was one of the veterans honored. He received an autographed Pacers basketball and other gifts, but said the wide assortment of food and quick lines pleased him just as much as the attention.

Neal went on an Honor Flight in 2015 with his daughter, Schneidt, and said the experience was unforgettable.

She was thankful that the organization continues to honor the veterans it takes on such trips.

“It was just wonderful,” she said. “They are so appreciated by the people here.”

‘Extraordinary things’

Services comes in many forms. That’s something Darin Mast learned during his time in the military, he said.

Speaking before a crowd of hundreds at Greenfield-Central High School Friday afternoon, the retired Army sergeant told the students about the towns and villages across the globe he visited during his 20-year career.

These places were often war-torn and underdeveloped, Mast said. The buildings and homes were tattered and broken. The streets were often dangerous. The people lived in fear.

It made him wonder, even at a young age — he joined the Army three weeks after graduating high school — what life in United States would have been like without the sacrifices of those who served the nation in uniform. He realized how much it cost, the selfless sacrifices veterans made, for Americans to have the freedom they enjoy.

“They are ordinary people who did extraordinary things and asked for nothing in return,” Mast said.

Greenfield-Central High School has welcomed the community into its building for a Veterans Day program for 20 years, Principal Jason Cary said. It always brings a smile to his face to see so many former servicemen and women come and share their time with the students, he said.

Each year, the program includes a guest speaker, a veteran, like Mast, who can inspire and offer encouragement to the students gathered.

Mast called up the students gathered to find a way to serve others in their futures. Military life isn’t for everyone, he said; but there are other means of giving back. Those experiences give life a higher purpose, he said; they make you feel rewarded and fulfilled.