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Students inspire veterans

November 10, 2011
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.
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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