CRESTVIEW — Students who attended Veterans Day ceremonies are more aware — and appreciative — of American military veterans' sacrifices.
At Southside Center, future veterans in Crestview High School's ROTC battalion received high-fives from elementary students Friday morning after presentation of the colors by the ROTC color guard, the Pledge of Allegiance and singing of patriotic songs.
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“I just feel good inside,” junior Devon Gillings said as he watched youngsters proudly wave their American flags.
“It makes you want to work with the kids,” said sophomore Hope Killion, who, like Devon, intends to enter the armed forces after graduation.
PATRIOTIC PUPS
Patriotic Pups, a student group at Bob Sikes Elementary School, decorated stars bearing veterans’ names for the Veterans Honor Wall in the cafeteria.
“We got to draw the stars,” third-grader Skylar Gatlin said, as she and fellow Patriotic Pup Kiki Matute guided guests into the cafeteria.
Navy Chief Petty officer Joseph Clairmont settled down to eat with his son, Wesley, a fifth-grader, and said the boy’s grandfather was also a CPO.
“We’re a Navy family,” Clairmont said, noting the predominance of Air Force and Army green in the room. “We’re kind of the minority.”
After the breakfast, fifth-graders directed by music teacher Gayle Vickers sang a medley of patriotic songs.
“The kids support our veterans as much as they can,” said mother and Air Force wife Angel Wormley, who ate breakfast with her husband, Senior Master Sgt. Earl Wormley and their daughter Jalee, a Bob Sikes third-grader.
FLAG RETIREMENT
Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Douglas Myers Sr., a World War II, Korea and Vietnam War veteran, was the guest of honor for Walker Elementary School’s Monday morning Veterans Day program.
A uniformed representative of each military branch, including Marine Master Sgt. Kevin Glydwell — representing the corps on its 239th birthday — joined him.
It was poignant for assistant principal Lorna Carnley, who, as the Air Force veteran's daughter, accepted a new American flag to fly outside the school from 34-year Air Force veteran Sgt. Darren Cogan of AmVets Post 35.
The presentation followed a solemn retirement ceremony for the school’s weathered, faded and tattered flag. Pack 732 Cub Scouts and Walker students Michael Wing, Alex Martin, Justin Walker and Sammy Richards participated in the ceremony under Scout Master Aaron Tew's direction.
It was the first time many Walker students and educators witnessed a flag retirement ceremony, during which the old flag was cut into four pieces and burned in a brazier.
“We shouldn’t be sad about the retirement of our friend," Tew said of the flag. "We are not burning him in anger; we are only releasing his spirit so that he can continue to serve us in our thoughts.”
Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Students learn respect for veterans, Old Glory (PHOTOS)