by Geoff Fox
A long-standing tradition at Hancock Middle-Senior High School continued this past Monday morning, November 11, as students welcomed the public in to honor our nation’s veterans at the Veterans Day ceremony in the school’s auditorium.
As images of veterans and active military from students and staff’ s family members and those Hancock High School graduates played on a wall, about 25 people from the public joined students to honor the Hancock area veterans.
At 11 a.m., teacher Carl Wise presented the American flag as the band played “My Country Tis of Thee.”
Once the flag was displayed, Principal Jennifer Ruppenthal welcomed everyone to the ceremony and told about her family history in the military.
“Today is dedicated to celebrating the men and women who served and protected our country through their commitment to the United States Armed Forces,” Ruppenthal said in her opening remarks.
Not only were they there who are currently serving in the Armed Forces, but also those who were honorably discharged after dedicating their lives to our safety and freedoms, she added.
Each veteran’ s journey is unique and different filled with courage, sacrifice, resilience, and separation from their families for long periods of time while facing difficult challenges far from home.
In her family, Ruppenthal said her father and uncle both served in the military during Vietnam. Ruppenthal’ s uncle was one of 17 Washington County’s own who did not return from Vietnam, giving his life during the war.
Ruppenthal also thanked the veterans for their service.
“Thank you for answering the call to serve and to protect the freedoms we enjoy,” she said. “We are eternally grateful for all you’ve done, and you continue to do.”
Tanner McCoy, Co-Advisor of the SGA, led the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance and introduced the Panther Band as they played “The Star-Spangled Banner,” 11 chimes for the fallen veterans, and “Taps.”
McCoy noted the ceremony was an important, annual tradition for not only the school, but for the community as well.
“By setting aside this time each year, we ensure that our students and staff take the time to thank the members of our families and community who have served and are currently serving, as well as those veterans who have passed,” he said.
McCoy turned the microphone over to Brooklyn McCusker to recite Charles M. Province’ s poem “It is the Soldier.”
The poem says it is the soldier who gave us our freedoms, not the minister, reporter, poet, campus organizer, lawyer or politician.
“It is the Soldier who salutes the flag, Who serves beneath the flag, And whose coffin is draped by the flag, Who allows the protester to burn the flag,” McCusker read.
Shannon McKinley performed the Statler Brothers’ hit “More Than a Name on a Wall,” which peaked at #6 for the country group, and described how she got the sheet music.
McKinley said she had been asked to perform the National Anthem and a few other songs of her choice a number of years ago when the War Memorial was dedicated in Widmeyer Park.
At the time, McKinley said, the lyrics and sheet music weren’t as easy to obtain as they are now.
She said Debbie Cohill contacted the Statler Brothers’ management and the sheet music was faxed to her so McKinley was able to perform the song that day.
McKinley noted the day of the dedication has stuck with her over the years because of the number of veterans and their families in front of the memorial, and as she sang the words of “More than a Name on a Wall,” and their expressions of pride and pain from everything they’d been through.
“So if you have the opportunity in your daily life, not just on November 11, thank a veteran. Thank them, talk to them, listen to their stories, shovel their snow, take their mail up to their house, anything that you can do,” she said. “We owe them such a debt of gratitude.”
After McKinley’ s song, the Panther Band performed the “Marches of the Armed Forces” and if a veteran from that branch was present, they were asked to stand.
A number of Army, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Navy veterans stood to a round of applause as each branch’s march was played.
This led into the keynote address presented by Navy Aviation Boatswain’s Mate First Class Michelle Arrington.
Arrington, who is still active in the Navy, is from Frederick and has spent time on three different classes of Navy warships, working on flight decks in support of both Navy and Marine flight operations.
Arrington is currently assigned to the Naval Recruiting Station in Hagerstown.
Arrington said she was honored to be in Hancock and wouldn’t actually be a veteran for another two and a half years.
In her speech, Arrington said the veterans were the reason she was in the military. Instead of following in her family’s Army footsteps, she decided to branch off into the Navy.
When she joined the military in 2007, Arrington thought, “What’s the worst that can happen?” and all that’s happened is she now understands what it means to fight for your country, what it means to love everything you do for your country, and what it means to help protect those who are growing up that are unable to protect themselves and fight for the country.
When trying to describe what it means to be a veteran, Arrington said Ruppenthal “nailed it” earlier – they are proud, honored, and should be rewarded and honored every day.
She also noted what the veterans before her went through was different than what she is going through in the military.
Those veterans were serving during active wartime with their fellow soldiers dying beside them as they fought.
“Without them, we’d have never been able to get to this milestone we have today,” she said. “And for that, thank you, dearly, from my heart.”
There were a few times Arrington got emotional when talking about the veterans.
Arrington also asked the veterans in the crowd to stand and thanked them for coming to the ceremony, drawing applause from the crowd as they stood.
She did give the students in the crowd a word of advice before she ended her speech.
“Make sure you make every day count, even if you’ re not in the service, make sure that every day you go through, you make it count,” she said. “Believe in yourself. Believe in everything you do.”
When it came to America, “be happy and proud to be part of it,” she said.
“Keep strong, keep believing, and make sure you stay proud,” Arrington said.
McCoy invited any veteran to come up and speak as well, which Carl Wise accepted.
Wise said he appreciated the ceremony, the students, and the thought and energy that went into the ceremony.
He spoke of his family’s involvement in the military, some of whom had passed during their service, and his uncle, Gerald Wise, who passed away in March at the age of 96.
