“You Are Our Heroes”…Salute to Our Veterans on Veterans Day, 2020
The Atwood-Hammond Jr. High Band, under the direction of Mrs. Tina Harvey, practices “America the Beautiful” for the Veterans Day video.
By Doris Elmore
Staff Writer
Veterans Day will be observed a little differently this year, but it definitely will not be forgotten. During a normal year there is a Veterans Day program at the A-H Grade School/Jr. High with music and speakers and local veterans recognized for their service to our country. This is normally presented by the American Legion Auxiliary and the school.
The staff at the school are continuing their tradition of teaching patriotism in the school and are reaching out to the community through their Veterans Day video submission. The video will be available by Nov. 11 on the A-H Grade School Facebook page and will feature our local students singing patriotic songs, playing music and reading poetry.
Mrs. Tina Harvey, Music Teacher, has been working long hours in preparing the music with the students for the video. Music will be: Kindergarten through 2nd graders will sing “You’re a Grand Old Flag”; 3rd-5th graders will sing “God Bless the USA”; 5th graders will sing the Star-Spangled Banner and “You Are Our Heroes”; and the Jr. High Band will play “America the Beautiful.”
Reading the poems will be Layla Diehl, Colin Smith, Mattix Stirrett, Ryan Appleby and Maggie Benedict.
The first celebration using the term Veterans Day occurred in Birmingham, Alabama in 1947. Raymond Weeks, a World War II veteran, organized National Veterans Day, which included a parade and other festivities to honor all veterans. The event was held on November 11, then designated Armistice Day.
Due to COVID-19 precautions, the veterans will not be treated to a lunch by the American Legion Auxiliary this year, but we want to give you the names of the veterans compiled by the auxiliary. This list is for surviving veterans to date. If you know of someone who is not on the list, who has passed away, please notify Marsha Burgener at the A-H Public Library.
A big THANK YOU to all our veterans for your sacrifice in keeping America free.
Veterans who are members of the Atwood American Legion, James Reeder Post #770:
Tad Simpson, Russell Wright, Aaron Romine, Richard Myers, Donald L. Swartz, John Thomas, Arthur Urban, David C. Walker, Jerry Newlin, Steven Whisnant, Bob Barger, Stephen Vollmer, Gerald Alexander, Dan Chambers, Jerry Clough, Bill Brandenburg, Melvin Fay, Jim Price, James K. McCollum, Gerald Hale, Raul Carrillo, Matthew Jones, Jerrol Jurgens, Howard Kamm, Wayne Jones, George Logsdon, Ray Sellers, William Morgan, Kenneth Caraway, Boyd Taylor, Gary Phillips, J. Andrew Brandenburg, Rick Scheffer, Michael Obert, Michael Corwin, James F. Reeder, Kevin Reeder, Russel D. Arbuckle and Bob Hodge.
Veterans who are not local legion members:
Robert Barcus, David Chapman, Nick Adcock, Wayne Cothron, State Rep. Dan Caulkins, John Moody, John Louden, Dr. Lanny Faulkner, Don Gerkin, Ronald Hammel, Curt Hall, Wes Blickenstaff, Jamie Simpson, Bill Jones, Charles Kroll, Don Laughlin, Roger Long, Larry Burton, Mrs. Lois Madden, Roger Marshall, Jan Lommele, Jeremiah Osborne, Gerald Parsano, Roger Ponder, Daniel Ward, John Redden, Jim Moseley, Shannon Sass, Bobbi Ward, Senator Chapin Rose, Lucas Foster, Duane Thompson, Curtis Deel, Kenneth Butcher, Bryan Butcher, Barry Romine, Roger Reedy, Chad Morfey.
Hammond Veterans include:
Mark Adcock, Dan Ahrendt, Bob Arnett, Kenneth Stanberry, Carl Binder, Paul Thompson, Michael Brown, Robert Burgener, James Crowe Jr., Nanette Day, Jason Pantier, Joie Edbrooke, Sam Mahannah, John Drummond, Lyle Gee, Paul Mann, Mark Arnett, Jay Jacobs, Doug Sims, Arnold Jones, Patreina Jacobs.
A huge thank you to Mrs. Tina Harvey, A-H students and staff for their diligence in making sure our veterans are remembered each year. Also, thanks to the auxiliary for the lists of veterans and to Principal Kristin Nall for taking the pictures for the paper.
