12.11.2019 Views

LF_111419

LF_111419

LF_111419

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

4 | November 14, 2019 | The lake forest leader NEWS<br />

LakeForestLeaderDaily.com<br />

Posted to LakeForestLeaderDaily.com 3 days ago<br />

Students learn about Veterans Day from Navy veteran<br />

Peter Kaspari, Editor<br />

What is Veterans Day?<br />

The students at Cherokee<br />

Elementary School in<br />

Lake Forest had that question<br />

answered by someone<br />

very familiar with the day,<br />

as Navy veteran Jamie<br />

Nero spoke during a special<br />

Veterans Day assembly<br />

on Thursday, Nov. 7.<br />

Nero said to understand<br />

what the meaning behind<br />

Veterans Day is, it’s important<br />

to understand why<br />

veterans are honored.<br />

“My interpretation is to<br />

honor and recognize those<br />

who have served and defended<br />

life, liberty and<br />

pursuit of your individual<br />

happiness,” he said, and<br />

to also defend “our way of<br />

life and the freedoms that<br />

oftentimes, we take for<br />

granted.”<br />

Veterans have served<br />

in various capacities and<br />

branches, including the<br />

Army, Marine Corps, Coast<br />

Guard, Air Force, Navy<br />

and the Merchant Marines,<br />

Nero said.<br />

“Our veterans today<br />

have served domestically<br />

and abroad in various capacities,”<br />

he said. “Also<br />

understand it’s not just the<br />

branch of service, but who<br />

served. Today that could<br />

be a great-grandparent, it<br />

could be a grandparent, a<br />

mother or father, it could be<br />

an aunt or uncle. In the notso-distant<br />

future, it could<br />

be a brother or a sister or a<br />

cousin.”<br />

Nero isn’t the only veteran<br />

in his family either.<br />

This past summer, Nero<br />

said he went to Washington,<br />

D.C., to accompany<br />

his grandfather, a World<br />

War II veteran who served<br />

in the Air Force, on the<br />

Honor Flight.<br />

A national organization,<br />

Navy veteran Jamie Nero speaks to Cherokee Elementary School students during<br />

a Veterans Day assembly on Thursday, Nov. 7. Nero explained to students why it’s<br />

important to honor and remember veterans every year. Photos by Peter Kaspari/22nd<br />

Century Media<br />

the Honor Flight raises<br />

money to send veterans to<br />

the nation’s capital, where<br />

they spend a day visiting<br />

all the monuments and<br />

war memorials, including<br />

World War II, Vietnam and<br />

Korea.<br />

Nero called it “a very<br />

humbling experience.”<br />

“He never talked about<br />

his service until this summer,”<br />

Nero said of his<br />

grandfather.<br />

He also shared a bit of<br />

history about Veterans Day,<br />

including telling students<br />

that this year is the 100th<br />

anniversary of Veterans<br />

Day.<br />

“Way back on Nov. 11,<br />

1919, the one-year anniversary<br />

of the end of World<br />

War I is Armistice Day,”<br />

Nero said. “Every year on<br />

the 11th hour of the 11th<br />

day of the 11th month, we<br />

honor our veterans. Those<br />

men and women who have<br />

served our country.”<br />

Nero told students that<br />

Armistice Day wasn’t a<br />

national holiday until 1946<br />

and it wasn’t until 1956 that<br />

President Dwight Eisenhower<br />

renamed it Veterans<br />

Day.<br />

In closing, Nero told the<br />

students about service and<br />

how they’re already serving<br />

in different capacities.<br />

“It’s not too early to understand<br />

service,” he said.<br />

“You serve the Cherokee<br />

community. You do that<br />

here in town for Lake Forest,<br />

and as you get older,<br />

you serve the greater institutions.<br />

“And who knows? In the<br />

not-so-distant future, perhaps<br />

you will hear that call<br />

of duty, that call of service<br />

to your country, and we’ll<br />

be honoring you on Veterans<br />

Day.”<br />

In addition to Nero’s<br />

speech, the assembly featured<br />

a video showing<br />

photos of veterans that are<br />

either related or have a<br />

connection to students and<br />

staff members of Cherokee,<br />

a song performed by<br />

all Cherokee students, a<br />

presentation by the Color<br />

Guard of American Legion<br />

McKinlock Post 264 and<br />

visits from veterans across<br />

the Lake Forest community.<br />

One of those veterans<br />

was Anne Friedman, who<br />

served in the Army.<br />

Friedman had never attended<br />

the Cherokee assembly<br />

before.<br />

“It was fabulous,” she<br />

said. “It was beautiful.”<br />

Friedman enjoys visiting<br />

with children.<br />

“I hope to inspire them,<br />

especially the girls,” she<br />

said. “Let them know women<br />

can also serve. They can<br />

do whatever they want.”<br />

She especially appreciates<br />

that children learn<br />

about Veterans Day.<br />

“I was just grateful and<br />

thankful that they honor<br />

veterans every year,” she<br />

said. “And they have the<br />

kids participate and show<br />

their appreciation for veterans<br />

and what it means.”<br />

Air Force veteran Ralph Hansen (left) and Army veteran<br />

Anne Friedman high-five and shake hands with Cherokee<br />

Elementary School students following a Veterans<br />

Day assembly.<br />

Cherokee Elementary School music teacher Mary<br />

Prestipino directs students in singing a song honoring<br />

veterans.<br />

The lobby of Cherokee Elementary School is decorated<br />

to honor veterans. Pictured are veterans who are related<br />

to students as well as school staff members.

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!