A VETERAN'S DAY I WILL NOT FORGET

When my daughter called to say my grandson’s school was putting on a Veteran’s Day program and my WWII Veteran father was to be an honored guest, I looked forward to a sweet little presentation and afterwards having lunch with my family.

I was not expecting the New Summit School in Jackson, Mississippi to have been working for months to pull off an extravaganza. It seemed all of the approximately two hundred and fifty students were involved.

When we entered the gymnasium, an entire wall held framed pictures of veterans who were family members of the students. Centerpieces of elegant red roses graced every table. The posting and retiring of the colors was done with military precision.

 Adorable kindergarteners tapped to the tune of “The Grand Ole Flag”.  School choirs sang. Poems  

were read. 

The culinary students (yes, they have a culinary class) made French pastries to rival any bakery in Paris.

The highlight of the day was to honor two WWII veterans, Hugh Grant Caradine, age 96, and Nailor Jerome Adams, age 93, my father. Their great-grandsons presented them with ‘Honorary Veteran’ sashes. Videos were made of them, telling their stories of the war.

When Pap was introduced, he stood in his WWII uniform and said, “I just didn’t know there was so many of you who still remember what we did.”

The entire crowd rose to their feet with a thunderous ovation. Pap, with tears streaming down his face, looked around and then saluted us. Forget trying to save the makeup.

I’ve thought a lot about the significance of that day. The obvious was, of course, honoring all vets. A week after the ceremony, my father still talks about that morning with shining eyes.

But, the impact goes so much further. The Scriptures exhorts us to “Teach the children.” New Summit is doing that. Among other values, the students learned:

·         Patriotism and pride in our flag. I’ll dare say, there won’t be any flag-burners in that bunch.

·         Respect for our veterans and their service. The kids were shown what our freedom cost others.

·         Respect for the elderly. Those two old vets are now frail and walk with assistance, no longer the strong, young warriors they once were. The students treated them with the utmost dignity and respect. After the ceremony, dozens of high school students stood in line to shake their hands and thank them for their service.

·         They were being taught to give back. Each student worked on the program. The first graders colored pictures of the flag, then the older kids laminated them to make placemats for the tables. The middle and high schoolers served the tables. And it goes on and on.

As I drove back to New Orleans, my heart was full. New Summit is teaching, by example, the core values that make a person and a nation strong.

If I still had school age kids, I would hope and pray for a school of the quality of New Summit, now that I know one exists.