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The Year InReview The Year InReview The Year InReview The Year InReviewHonoring Our Local VeteransBy Bryan Shupe, November 13, 2012Children at Milford High School took time to‘Thank A Vet” during their lunch period on Friday,November 9. In honor of the observance on VeteransDay on the following Sunday, students were greetedduring lunch by retired military Edward Mocevlskiand Raymond Manuel. With the help of VFW Post6483 Commander Jerry Thompson, Vice Presidentof Department of Delaware Ladies Auxiliary CollenThompson and President Pat Darlin, children weremet with bracelets and stickers to show their supportfor veterans.“It is important that the students know the historyand be aware of the sacrifices veterans continueto make for us,” commented President Darlin. “Itwas great to hear a lot of the students say that theyhad family members or friends that were and are inthe military.” Darlin’s husband served in the UnitedStates Air Force and her son and daughter are currentlyfollowing in his footsteps.Students from Milford signed two posters in themain lobby thanking veterans for their sacrifice. Thebanners will be sent to the local VFW Post 6483 toshow students’ gratitude for the sacrifices made byall veterans.“We are here to bring an awareness to the studentsthat many of them may not have about their veterans,”commented Commander Thompson. “Weare educating these students about the militaryand helping answer questions that they may have.”Commander Thompson served in the United StatedArmy during Vietnam and assumed the rank of aE5-SergeantOn Sunday veterans from around the nation gaveout poppy flowers to remind individuals about thesacrifices that veterans have made. The poppy flowerhas come to symbolize the blood shed and sacrificeof soldiers and originates from the battle in FlandersField in Belguim during WWI. A particularly bloodybattle, many soldiers were buried at Flanders Field.Red poppy flowers began to grow through the fieldwhere white crosses were placed for buried soldiers.The contrast of the red poppy and white crosses wasso significant that John McCrae, poet and soldierduring WWI, wrote “In Flander Field” describingthe site. In 1923 the Veterans of Foreign Wars decidedto distribute red poppy flowers in remembranceof all who have made the ultimate sacrifice.During its annual Veterans Day ceremony onMonday, November 12 the Kent County Chapter850, Vietnam Veterans of America, unveiled anddedicated their new memorial to Delaware’s GoldStar Mothers and Families, an organization formedby widows of veterans after WWI to comfort eachother and care for hospitalized veterans. The memorialincorporates a gold star and an 1864 quote fromAbraham Lincoln: “I pray that our Heavenly Fathermay assuage the anguish of your bereavement, andleave you only the cherished memory of the lovedand lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours tohave laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.”“We began this project because we felt that GoldStar mothers and families often go unrecognized,”stated Joe Startt Jr., Chapter 850 President in a pressrelease about the event. “They are the ones pictured inthe most heart-wrenching photos as they are handedthe folded flag ‘on behalf of a grateful nation’.”