‘Every day is Veterans Day’

0

Veterans will be remembered, honored and celebrated this coming week by schools, nursing homes, churches and veterans organizations across Jackson County.

Wednesday is Veterans Day, a federal holiday to honor people who have served in the military.

At Trinity Lutheran High School, students, staff and veterans will come together for the school’s fifth annual Veterans Day program, started by the late David Sandhage, a teacher who died from injuries he suffered after falling from a ladder in May of 2014.

The hourlong program will begin at 10 a.m. in the school’s gymnasium and is open to the public. There will be a reception for all veterans and guests afterward.

[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]

The Rev. Michael Frese, associate pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Fort Wayne, will be the keynote speaker.

Frese was stationed in Afghanistan as a military chaplain in the U.S. Army. In February 2014, he received the Purple Heart for injuries he sustained during his deployment in 2011.

He currently serves as base chaplain at the 122nd Fighter Wing of the Indiana Air National Guard.

Besides recognizing the role played by chaplains throughout military history, the program also will commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, principal Dan Sievert said.

The choir and band will perform a variety of patriotic songs, including arrangements for bells and chimes.

“We are proud to host this event and welcome the community, especially veterans and their families who have served or are serving,” Sievert said.

Seymour Middle School Sixth Grade Center will conduct its Veterans Day program at 9 a.m. at the veterans memorial at Gaiser Park.

Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1925 will present the colors. The choir and band will perform.

The program will include speakers Mayor Craig Luedeman and Don Furlow, who is on the memorial committee. Student government members will take part in a wreath laying ceremony to honor those veterans who have died.

“On Veterans Day, let us remember the brave men and women who have valiantly fought to preserve our freedom,” principal Becky Davis said.

Also Wednesday, the Freeman Army Air Field Museum, 1035 A Ave. in Seymour, will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in honor of Veterans Day. Admission is free.

Exhibits include aviation history and local artifacts along with a new display on the Tuskegee Airmen and women who served at Freeman Field. The museum annex houses one of two original fire trucks from the base and several items such as World War II-era aircraft parts recovered from the field.

Museum president Bonnye Good said she hopes people who haven’t been out to the museum before get a chance to visit Wednesday.

“Mike Jordan, one of our longtime board members, suggested that we be open on Veterans Day, and we thought it was a great idea,” Good said. “It’s another way to honor our veterans and their contributions.”

American Legion Post 89 in Seymour will conduct its annual Veterans Day program at 11 a.m. Wednesday at the post annex. Mike Albert, a 25-year U.S. Army veteran and Legion member will be the guest speaker. He has served in Afghanistan and Iraq and trained troops at Camp Atterbury near Edinburgh.

Post commander Larry Shelly said everyone should attend a program or event on Veterans Day.

“I think it’s a good day to recognize the people who have made our country what it is today, and just to let them know we are thinking about them,” he said. “Without them, we wouldn’t have the freedoms we have.”

But in truth, he said, “every day is Veterans Day.”

[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”If you go” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]

Veterans Day services

Tuesday

6 p.m. Margaret R. Brown Elementary

Wednesday

9 a.m. Veterans memorial at Gaiser Park with students from Seymour Middle School Sixth Grade Center, guest speakers — Don Furlow, manager of Freeman Municipal Airport, and Mayor Craig Luedeman

9 a.m. Cortland Elementary School

9:15 a.m. Margaret R. Brown Elementary

10 a.m. Trinity Lutheran High School, 7120 N. County Road 875E, Seymour, guest speaker — the Rev. Michael Frese of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Fort Wayne

10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Freeman Army Air Field Museum, open for tours

11 a.m. Seymour American Legion Annex, 400 W. Second St. Seymour, guest speaker Mike Albert 

11 a.m. Crothersville Veterans of Foreign Wars, 103 W. Main St., Crothersville

11 a.m. Crothersville FFA at Crothersville Community School; guest speaker Ed Hall

11 a.m. Brownstown Veterans of Foreign Wars, Jackson County Courthouse, Brownstown, guest speaker — Michael Hogg 

1:15 p.m. Emerson Elementary School

1:45 p.m. Seymour-Jackson Elementary School

2:15 p.m. Seymour Middle School — teacher Jeremy Helmsing, guest speaker

6 p.m. Seymour-Jackson Elementary School

Friday

9:30 a.m. Seymour-Redding Elementary School

10 a.m. Seymour Place

[sc:pullout-text-end]

No posts to display