This year for Veterans Day, Appleton North hosted a Veterans Day Ceremony and invited current and past military personnel in the community.

“Veterans Day is a date set aside annually to reflect, remember, and honor those who have served our nation in the armed forces. Our assembly was a way in which we, the Lightning Community, could do that,” said Mr. Huggins, Appleton North’s principal and organizer of the event. The assembly was attended by North alumni who are veterans, as well as other veterans within our community which included aunts, uncles, fathers, mothers, daughters and sons, as well as grandparents all connected to Appleton North.

Eric Marr, a 30-year Army veteran, said he “thought the ceremony was a good idea” and that it was, “nice to see people viewing veterans in a better light.” Alvin Dupree Jr. spent 20 years in the Marine Corp and served two one-year tours in Afghanistan. He added that, “this type of community support to veterans is encouraging and really speaks to the gratitude shown by the public to those who have served our country.”

When asked about his experience in the military, Dupree found a profound impact the military had in “breaking down barriers like the differences in ethnicity, race, and creed.” He said all soldiers had one common goal: “make it home.” The phrase “One nation under God has special meaning to those who have served,” Dupree said.

As for the logistics of the event Mr. Huggins noted, “For our first time conducting this type of an assembly, I thought it went well.  I was most concerned about the audio-visual aspects and being able to effectively broadcast a quality live feed to all school since not all could be accommodated in our auditorium.”

The military members that attended the ceremony were applauded several times during the event. The ceremony was certainly a success according to Mr. Huggins. “Two events stood out to me.  First one was when the veterans were being recognized and how proud they were when each branch of the service was asked to stand during the Armed Forces Salute.  This included one veteran who cheerfully waved his hat during his patriotic service anthem was played.  The second was when TAPS was played.  Those who have served know how powerful that can be and I know at least one Marine in uniform was still pretty emotional when I saw him immediately after the service,” said Mr. Huggins.

Mr. Huggins said he was very proud of everyone involved in the ceremony, from those performing musically in the ceremony and those working behind the scenes to make it possible.