Students and faculty at Canongate Elementary School celebrated Veterans Day on Nov. 10 with a program featuring student speakers, special guests, music and recognition of family members who are veterans or on active duty.
Many veterans were in attendance for the event, entering the school gymnasium down a path of honor created by Northgate High School’s JROTC cadets, who also presented the colors. They were led by retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Etienne Miszczak, who also serves as the school’s senior aerospace science instructor.
Music teacher Andrea Chitwood and chorus students led the crowd in singing “The Star-Spangled Banner,” and the students additionally performed “On Veterans Day” and “Grateful to be an American.”
Principal John Vaughn, Assistant Principal Valerie Dean and Chitwood read the names of Canongate family service members and recognize the veterans in attendance by military branch.
Two fifth grade students – Asden Lamble and Marcus Bauer – wrote essays on the topic “Why we should honor our veterans” for the occasion, and theirs were selected as the top efforts for the school. Each student read their essay aloud during the celebration.
“Imagine a place filled with pain, fear and shadows everywhere. But then a group of brave and special people chase the shadows, pain and fear away and create a beautiful world for us to live in. These brave and special people are called veterans, and they are protecting us and our nation every second of our lives. In my opinion, our veterans deserve to be honored because they risk their lives to protect us and our nation and give us an amazing world to live in.
To begin with, veterans protect our nation by land, sea and air. For example, veterans protect our nation and our freedoms every second of our lives, no matter where in the U.S. you go. To protect us as five branches of the armed forces – the Army, the Navy, Marine Corps, the Coast Guard and the Air Force.
One last reason is they’re willing to sacrifice their lives, time with their family and friends to fight for us. For instance, veterans go to a dangerous place to fight for our nation and represent America. Veterans fight against pain and fear to show that we are a strong country.
In conclusion, veterans deserve to be honored because they fight to keep us, our nation and our freedom safe, and they make us proud in many ways.”
“Imagine living a life without freedom, rights being ruled by someone else and not being able to stand for what you want. Thankfully, that doesn’t happen because of veterans. Veterans are citizens who have served in the U.S. armed forces. In my opinion, our veterans deserve to be honored because they bravely fought for our freedom and they courageously protected our rights, freedom and what our country stands for.
“One reason that veterans should be honored is that they bravely fought for our freedom. In multiple wars veterans fought in, they were about keeping Americans free. They succeeded, because we are still fighting. Veterans fighting in many wars is truly an act of kindness. They have to leave the people that they care for to fight for people they don’t even know. This is one reason that veterans should be honored.
“Another reason that veterans should be honored is that they courageously protected our rights, freedom and what our country stands for. Woodrow Wilson said, ‘To us in America, the reflections of the day will be filled with pride in the heroism of those in the country’s service.’ The veterans should be honored because they served in the military to protect the citizens of the United States of America.
In conclusion, veterans should be honored because they put others before themselves, they fight for our freedom, and they courageously protect our rights, freedom and what our country stands for.”
Retired U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Ron Wolfe served as guest speaker for the event, regaling the crowd with stories of working on aircraft. Wolfe, who led Northgate High School’s JROTC program for several years after retiring from the military, said he joined the Air Force because he wanted a better life. After graduating from high school in 1971, he said he considered medical school, among other options, but found himself a couple of years later working for minimum wage at a nursing home instead.
“I decided that I needed something more,” Wolfe said. “If I was going to go to college, I needed a better job because at that time I was making a whopping $1.60 an hour. And it was hard enough when I was working at the nursing home just to even think about going to college, when I was paying rent and bills and being responsible for myself.”
On a whim, he decided to enlist in the military and chose the Air Force purely because it was the closest branch, he said.
“I was trying to figure out what I was going to do next,” Wolfe said. “I was heading home and I passed an Air Force recruiting station. He was on the left-hand side. If I had gone another quarter mile up the road, the Army, the Navy and the Marines are waiting for me.”
Wolfe spent 12 weeks learning to work on fighter planes and ended up making the military his career. Among his duty stations were Shaw Air Force Base and Charleston Air Force Base in South Carolina with flights to Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Central America and South America. He served in South Korea and Louisiana, as well as at Moody Air Force Base in Valdosta, Georgia.
He spent 22 years in the Air Force and another 25 leading JROTC programs, including at Northgate High School, before hanging up his uniform for good in 2019. Moody said he appreciated the opportunity to tell the school about his experiences, and for their celebration of veterans.
“I thank Canongate for honoring all the veterans that are here today,” said Moody, who added that he was largely unaware of Veterans Day when he was growing up. “I didn’t know the importance of it at that time.”
Vaughn said the annual Veterans Day event is an important celebration for the school.
“We are here to honor our service members, both retired and active, and to remember the sacrifices that they have made and are continuing to make every day for our country,” he said. “This is Canongate’s way of saying ‘We remember.’”
