Veterans Day Remembered by Claremont Students, Others Around Valley
Thomas Liveston, a Stevens faculty member and fomer U.S. Coast Guard Member raises a flag that flew in Pakita Province, Afghanistan, during Operation Enduring Freedom and donated by Stevens alumnus Sgt. David Carrier during the Veterans Day observance Ceremony at Stevens High School in Claremont yesterday.
Valley News - Sarah Priestap Purchase photo reprints »Stevens High School teacher and Army veteran Dori Yacono holds an American flag and listens, along with members of the New Hampshire Rolling Thunder Chapter 2, to the song Proclamations performed by the Stevens High School Band.
Valley News - Sarah Priestap Purchase photo reprints »
Claremont — Stevens High School students tuned into a different style lesson yesterday, one that wasn’t found in books or online, but rather through heart-felt messages.
Faculty, staff, city employees and community members gathered around the high school’s apron yesterday and listened attentively to U.S. veterans tell their stories of sacrifice to mark Sunday’s observance of Veterans Day.
“Less than one-half of 1 percent of our population serves in the military,” said 22-year Army veteran Charlene Lovett, a New Hampshire state representative and member of the Claremont School Board. “It is too easy to forget what our veterans have given this country. Those deployed in combat zones face hardships that the rest of us can only imagine, some are wounded; their lives changed forever.”
Sgt. David Carrier, a Stevens grad who was medically discharged from the military this year, described for students sacrifices he made as a fort observer in more than 300 Iraq and Afghanistan combat missions.
“I was living out of outposts and camped out on mountain tops. I had no running water, no bathrooms,” Carrier said. “All of those little things we take for granted here, you don’t always get that over there, so you sacrifice a lot.”
For some students, the stories read yesterday by military veterans and other members of the Claremont community hit home.
“It makes me realize how unaware some of us our,” said Forrest Powers, a Stevens senior. “We take some of this stuff for granted and we really shouldn’t.”
Junior Zach Shedlock said after hearing remarks at the ceremony, “(it) kind of makes me want to be in the Army.”
“It is just kind of inspirational,” he said, of those who served in the U.S. military. “It shows that we won’t back down; that we are proud of who we are.”
Senior Stephanie Mcglyn said it just makes her think about “life.”
Superintendent Middleton McGoodwin explained the importance of holding programs and events in remembrance of former military personnel because “we as a society can easily forget about what happened in the past.”
“I think it’s important that we continuously remind all of our culture, especially students, that what we have today is not by coincidence, what we have today occurred by sacrifice,” McGoodwin said.
As part of the third annual event, the flag flown over Carrier’s post in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom was raised on the flagpole at the high school to honor veterans across the country.
Stevens High School students weren’t the only ones to celebrate Veterans Day yesterday. Linda Landry’s fourth-grade class at Canaan Elementary School put on a ceremony for Upper Valley veterans. Among those in attendance was 100-year-old World War II Army veteran Dan Fleetham.
Landry said her students sent out invitations to veterans inviting them to yesterday’s event and baked refreshments to enjoy after a slideshow and a few words from area veterans were said. The fourth- graders presented former military personnel with certificates and hand-made pins as a way to say thank you.
“The veterans said how amazed they were that the students had learned about veterans and that the youth realized how important they were,” Landry said.
On behalf of the Dartmouth Graduate Veterans Association, Dartmouth College also celebrated Veterans Day yesterday with its first annual Veterans Day Banquet.
A memorial service was held, along with a full course dinner and presentation by two Dartmouth alumni: Marine Brig. Gen. Burke Whitman and Dartmouth Board of Trustees member Nathaniel Fick, CEO of Endgame and author of One Bullet Away: The Making of a Marine Officer.
Veterans Association spokesman retired Lance Cpl. Michael Rodriguez said the association decided to hold a banquet to bring more awareness and attention to veterans issues. Rodriguez also made clear “less than 1 percent of the U.S. population actively serves in the U.S. military,” which he said is a big difference from decades ago.
“In World War II as an example, roughly 10 percent of the U.S. population was actively involved in that conflict. That’s a big gap,” Rodriguez said. “And as that gap gets smaller, the number of veterans gets smaller, which means less people know what it is like to serve, and the facts and realities of war.”
Rodriguez said at least 150 people were expected to attend yesterday’s event.
“This is an appreciation day, something small, but hopefully it can mean something big,” Rodriguez said. “Especially at a place like Dartmouth, where we can tell other students what is going on.”
Jordan Cuddemi can be reached at jcuddemi@gmail.com.
