Veterans honored during annual Decatur school event

Westside Eagle Observer/MIKE ECKELS Ron Evans, a retired Navy veteran, gives a speech honoring his many colleagues during the Decatur High School Veterans Day program Thursday at Peterson Gym.
Westside Eagle Observer/MIKE ECKELS Ron Evans, a retired Navy veteran, gives a speech honoring his many colleagues during the Decatur High School Veterans Day program Thursday at Peterson Gym.

DECATUR -- "We're here to honor our military veterans and to show you the faces of those who have sacrificed so much to give you freedom," was the opening remark Toby Conrad, high school principal, delivered to middle and high school students during a morning assembly Thursday to commemorate Veterans Day.

Students from Decatur middle and high schools were assembled in the gym to learn what serving country is all about during the fifth annual Decatur High School Veterans Day program at Peterson Gym.

Conrad started the annual event in 2014 as a way to honor his father and to teach students a lesson in what sacrificing for country is all about. The program was such a big success that year that, in 2015, the Decatur Veterans Committee and Veterans Day Parade were born.

The program opened with a presentation of colors ceremony performed by Terry Faddis and Hays Buenning from the Decatur Howard-Parrish chapter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 9834. As Old Glory and the VFW post flags proceeded to their posting in the center of the gym, students, teachers and guests stood with their hands over their hearts while the veterans stood at attention and saluted.

After the Decatur High School band played the national anthem, the high school choir performed the classic American standard, "God Bless America."

The guest speaker this year was Ron Evans, a retired Navy veteran. He related his service in the Navy through several personal stories.

Thirty-five veterans from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard and their families took center stage as the Northeastern Oklahoma choir from Miami sang a pair of patriotic songs in their honor.

After the assembly, the veterans and family members joined faculty and staff gathered in the home economics room for a lunch provided by students and teachers of the home economics department. This gave everybody a chance to visit with a veteran and listen to many of their combat experiences as well.

General News on 11/13/2019