Sacrifice. Honor. Service. Freedom.
These words gained deeper meaning Tuesday during an impressive Veterans Day assembly at Dolores Schools.
Nearly 1,000 students, citizens, and veterans jammed the gymnasium to hear presentations and music performances honoring those who served in the U.S. military.
Dolores school bands and choirs performed during the hour-and-a-half ceremony. Short films were shown, student presentations and poems were heard, and veterans stepped up to the microphone to share their stories.
"Every year it gets better and better," said superintendent Scott Cooper. "This year was the best yet."
Veterans from each branch of the military were asked to stand and then honored with the appropriate song performed by the band or choir. Five empty chairs represented soldiers still missing or taken prisoner.
"They call them MIA/POW; we call them brothers. They are here in spirit," a student said.
Junior Sydney Giddings gave a moving poem he wrote on the Arlington cemetery. It reads in part:
Arlington, a sanctuary for our heroes,
They gave their all and fought our foes,
Our gratitude isn't just to our angels,
But to all men and women that face the dangers.
They go headfirst into battles,
To win the fight with all their might.
A poem by junior Joshua Bratton, "Pay a Price", was also read.
It reads in part:
There's an old photograph that hangs on the wall,
It's of a long-forgotten soldier who answered the call.
He served his country because it was right,
Though nobody asked if he agreed with the fight.
He left his whole world, country, family, and life,
To become part of history that was full of strife.
Regan Pierce shared her interview with brother-in-law Travis Martin, who served in the Marine Corps on tours in Afghanistan.
"He wanted to be part of the one percent of Americans who serve. He was tired of doing the same thing every day," Pierce told the crowd.
"He showed me YouTube posts of the fight," she continued. "It looked like a video game, but it was real. He said 'Semper Fi' - it means all Marines are faithful, they have each other's backs."
The theme for student projects on veterans was to think beyond themselves, to appreciate the sacrifice soldiers make to fight for the greater good, explained Beverly Hall, organizer of the event, and school music director.
Student Lillian Auclair got the message. She urged people to think about the suffering soldiers endure, scars that stay with them for life.
"The U.S. military is a separate world than the America we take for granted," she said. "A simple thank-you or handshake is a helpful thing. Speak a few words of gratitude to a veteran."
A veteran told a story of running into a fellow soldier decades later.
"We served together until 1972, but he stayed until 1975 looking for POW's. He would not say if they found any, but said he does get 250 Christmas cards per year."
For Rick, a local Navy veteran, the Dolores event was his first real coming home party. After his 1970 return from Vietnam he and other soldiers were met with scorn from anti-war crowds at the San Francisco airport.
"Thank you Dolores schools for this assembly. I finally got my welcome home," he said to huge cheers.
At the end, a standing ovation for performances and speeches echoed through the hall. Then, with the playing of "Taps," silence fell across the room.
