MBG's "...Short story long...": Veteran's Day Flag Ceremony

It is important to us that our boys be patriotic. We are committed to teaching them to honor and remember those who serve in our United States Armed Forces to afford us the freedom we enjoy.

My boys have four grandfathers who are U.S. Veterans and I want them to really understand what that means. I want them to know that being an American is a blessing, an honor, and a responsibility.

That said, I was excited when Jack came home from school Monday asking to invite his Uncle Van to the Veteran's Day flag ceremony to be held Wednesday morning. I was even more excited when Uncle Van accepted his invitation. It was a short EARLY morning ceremony that I will not soon forget. I hope it meant as much to Van as it did to Jack Everett and to me.

Here are some pictures and videos from the event:

Uncle Van and Jack waiting outside his classroom for the morning bell to ring.

The children all gathered outside around the flag pole. Not sure if you can tell, but Van is the one in blue in the middle of the crowd. The Boy Scouts raised the flag to begin the ceremony.

The students recite "The Pledge of Allegiance to the U.S. Flag", followed immediately by the Pledge to the Texas Flag. ("Honor the Texas flag; I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state under God, one and indivisible.") ... in stereo...

After the choir sang the National Anthem, a fifth-grade student read his letter to a soldier in Afghanistan. Between his letter and a little girl's poem about Heroes, there were a lot of sniffles and Kleenexes in the crowd. The kids were silent and reverent.

Here is the end of the line of about 20-25 military men and women (retired and active-duty) introducing themselves to the children. All branches of the military were represented.

The principal, Mrs. Gorsche (in the white pants) told the story of how her late father, a World War II Veteran, used to come with her to her Veteran's Day Flag ceremonies at her Elementary School when she was a little girl. As if I wasn't emotional enough already...

The choir then sang Peter, Paul, and Mary's "If I Had a Hammer" to end the ceremony. Uncle Van then joined the other honorees in the school library and Jack presented him with a card he made for him.

Ceremonies like this are important. They are worth the trouble, the early morning, the chaos, and the energy. It is the very least we can do to train our children to honor those who have sacrificed so much for us.

Thank you, Van, for taking time out to help us teach Jack Everett this important lesson.

"Well I got a hammer, and I got a bell, and I got a song to sing, all over this land. It's the hammer of Justice, it's the bell of Freedom, it's the song about Love between my brothers and my sisters, all over this land."