001foreign [Music] foreign [Music] foreign good morning and Welcome to our Veterans Day Service uh we were all here to see the veterans and we're about to introduce them so as we bring them in by Era of service uh if you would stand and recognize them uh the first Banner is the banner for World War one uh as it advances if you would uh maintain a moment of silence in memory of the the Fallen World War II [Applause] Korea [Applause] Vietnam [Applause] thank you [Applause] the Cold War [Applause] Veterans of the Persian Gulf Iraq and Afghanistan foreign [Applause] if you'd all remain standing as the the Boy Scouts post the colors oh my God yes [Music] um we're going to say the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance you may be seated good morning I'd like
002to welcome all of you to our annual Brown County Schools veteran days program in the Larry c banks Memorial gymnasium my name is Emily Tracy and I am honored to serve as your superintendent of schools today we have the great pleasure of honoring our veterans both living and past who have selflessly served our great nation at this time we would like to pay special recognition to any widows of veterans who have joined us today please stand where you are and be recognized thank you for your service thank you for joining us this morning I do hope you enjoy what promises to be a very special program at this time I would like to introduce Alicia Adams to the podium one of our own Brown County High School history Club sponsors well good morning usually Mrs
003Llewellyn joins me but this morning she's unable to join us because her baby was not feeling well she sent me a cute picture to share with you instead isn't he adorable every year Emily and I proudly stand here as our Brown County High School's history Club sponsors to share about an important initiative called jeans for BC vets where after donating to the cause teachers and staff members have the chance to wear jeans to school for the week over the years we have extended this endeavor to include our community members resulting in thousands of dollars of donations to the Nashville VFW Post once again today we extend our fundraising efforts to you all the community after the ceremony you'll find history club members throughout the gym with canisters to collect donations for the national VFW Post
0046195 every little bit helps and every little bit stays right here in our County to help our veterans we look forward to another successful fundraising event this year now I'd like to introduce to you our vice president of our Brown County High School history Club Lizzie Rausch who will read an original poem entitled an Ode to County and Country [Applause] upon thy Banks her prop her prosperous fruit tempers with the weather pluralist Autumn fading to spirited Crimson leaves fourth good canvas of Bittersweet Barrel Heaven an unwavering white aerial A New Dawn breaking an honorable Morning Glory atop thy Hills and among thy haulers her Prosperity embarks from a nestled nursing Harbor unhesitatingly answering the Call to Arms upon God's floor her progeny sleeps beholding an everlasting call us of aphotic Lupine and pure oppression bespangled
005grandeur tantalizing constellations charting the course home for adrift spirits a journal of interstellar Memoirs conscripted to the bereft Atop The over the top a charge into the barrage Into The unavowed Valleys of dirt and Meandering internal Hills a shrouded sun and dreams of Yuletide upon the ridge a joust for foothold for the colors to fly high waves of Warships and Sands of perished Souls a Bastion Beach and liberations of humanity a cold glow betwixt in the ashes of a cleaved World a private's blood spilled tending a garden of Hyacinth and Iris a duties decree born in the Accord of Nations asunder among the sand Trade Winds of time link courageous hearts and eternity's ghosts and an Amorous amenity [Applause] thank you Lizzy ladies and gentlemen will you please stand for the Star-Spangled Banner performed very
006very own Rhapsody show choir foreign [Music] streaming and the rock is [Music] still there who say does [Music] [Applause] [Music] over the land of the freeze [Music] [Applause] you may be seated at this point our combined choir and band will perform the pride of America which is a medley of all of the service hymns of the branches of the military when you hear your branches him some if you would stand please we would appreciate that thank you [Music] foreign [Music] the United States Army [Music] the United States Marines foreign [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] Navy [Music] day [Applause] [Music] foreign the United States Coast Guard [Music] simple practices [Music] the United States Air Force [Music] we live [Music] thank you all for your service [Applause] please welcome Mr Bill Hamilton to present the Patriots pen and
007voice of democracy foreign [Applause] thank you everyone for being here today to honor the veterans and all our comrades their families members of our community and guests this Veterans Day we want to thank our superintendent miss Emily Tracy the principals the teachers the staff and all the students who have helped make this happen my name is Bill Hamilton and I'm the commander of the Nashville Veterans of Foreign Wars post 6195 it's an honor to be here today assisting me here today is my senior Vice Commander Jim Thomas each year the VFW wants to recognize students and teachers through the Patriots pen program The Voice democracy program and the smart mayher citizenship education teacher recognition program each one is judged by a panel of veterans and the community members our first place winner for the Patriots
008pen will advance to the district level where they compete with the winners from the 16 Post in our district winners then advance to the state level and the state winners advance to the National level prizes monetary Awards or scholarships are awarded at each level the national winner will receive five thousand dollars this year the Patriots pen theme is my pledge to our veterans and students in the 6th 7th and eighth grades competed by writing an essay excuse me this year we are happy to honor and congratulate the winner of the Patriots pen Liam White [Applause] right over here Liam's award is a backpack an engraved metal a certificate and a monetary Award of 150 dollars [Applause] just the other winner from the voice of democracy but hang on to yourself yeah but don't go too
009far because we have to have pictures taken too congratulations Liam [Applause] our first place winner for voice of democracy will advance to the district level where they compete with the winners from the 16 posts in our district winners then advance to the state level and the state winners advance to the National level prizes monetary Awards or scholarships are awarded at each level State winners receive a trip to Washington D.C and may receive up to thirty five thousand dollars for a scholarship this year the voice of democracy theme is why is the veteran important students in the high school grades 9 through 12 competed by writing and recording an audio essay this year we are happy to honor and congratulate our top three winners for the voice of democracy can Evelyn Finley please come forward foreign
010is our third place winner receiving an engraved medal a certificate and a monetary Award of 150 dollars congratulations could Kaylee Austin please come forward foreign [Applause] place winner receiving an in-grade medal a certificate and a monetary Award of 200 congratulations [Applause] our first place winner is identified as Noah Lewis [Applause] Noah is receiving an engraved medal a certificate and a monetary Award of 250 dollars congratulations Noah [Applause] at this time we would like the voice and democracy first place winner Noah Lewis to share his Essay with everyone here today [Applause] why is the veteran important the dictionary definition of a veteran is rather just a person who served in the military well my definition represents freedom a veteran to me means putting your life on the line for the greatness of the country you served
011a veteran to me means serving for the freedom of you and me veterans are not only people who serve but those who fight for the history of this nation our families and the protection of the red white and blue flag in 1776 our founding fathers created a precedent in world history by establishing a document unlike any other as well as freeing ourselves from the social neglect from England for our founding fathers had written a document marking our independence starting a revolution amongst colonists following the uprising of this great nation they believed the government should be given a bill new Bill of Rights in hopes of bettering the Newfound country one that gives the people Freedom one that represents the strength of this great nation most importantly one legislature that would stand any Blow from other
012nations they created A faultless legislature unprecedented by other governments allowing the people to vote on the state and National Representatives opening up we what we see here in the present the ability to grow equal to the fellow man in hopes of bettering themselves and others around them here today the people here sitting before me are ones who allowed me to tell their story here today without these veterans this work in literature written by these great Founders could never been told to those of you for veterans not only create a safety net over the future development amongst our great country but help carry these great stories about the founding fathers and allow them to be presidented why do you believe veterans serve for this country many might save for their families their country patriotism Etc the
013veterans might have served for the reasons they've proclaimed but they as well fight for the people in this country and in this room they have gone through multiple instances in which they could have lost their life through the time and service once again I ask myself this very question of why these Brave patriotic men serve this great country many of you may not have a veterans room here today nor these veterans may know you however these courageous men gave the people in here and this very country an opportunity the opportunity to make friends take chances and just grow as an individual which brings me back to this exact question I've told you why do veterans serve they serve for you for me and the flag above you and behind me for without these great men
014and in this room and those great veterans outside of Brown County allow us to sit here secure free and in unity that's why the veteran is important to me because they serve for more than what they might have think and throughout the world and In This Very Room I'd like to close this message off by thanking all the veterans in this room here today and give my respect give my respect to those who passed who have you have served your field of warfare for your community your families your comrades next to you and those who've fallen and those great country we call home God bless each and every one of you here today for giving us the freedom family and security we have in this beautiful country God has given us to conclude why is
015the veteran important a veteran is important not only for how they serve but what they serve for they serve for you and me their families in the land of the free foreign [Applause] every year the VFW acknowledged high school middle school and Elementary School teachers for their hard work dedication and inspiration in creating a sense of national pride in their students this year the VFW Post 6195 is recognizing two of our teachers for their outstanding efforts at this time when Mr Tim Hebert come forward there he is [Applause] an honor to recognize Mr Hebert congratulations [Applause] thank you at this time would Mrs Karen Kirby from sprunica elementary school please come forward [Applause] it's also an honor for us to recognize Mrs Kirby congratulations thank you [Applause] if the students can stand by after the
016ceremony so we can get a few photos and things done I appreciate it thank you for supporting our students and our veterans at this time I'll turn it back over to miss Tracy thank you [Applause] next we have our Brown County High School jazz band and Rhapsody senior seniors Allison Pennington and Ali Tincher with God Bless the USA [Music] if tomorrow all the things were gone you'd worked for all your life and you had to start again with just your children and your wife you think you're lucky stars to be living here today cause the flag still stands for freedom and they can't take that away foreign [Music] foreign [Music] that I'm proud to be an American where at least I know I'm free and I won't forget the men who died who gave the
017right to me and I gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today cause there ain't no doubt I love this land God bless the US foreign [Music] foreign good morning my name is Trent Austin and I am the proud principal here at Brown County High School it is my honor this morning to recognize our students who have enlisted and will be serving our country in the armed forces first of all Marines Dakota Crews foreign Army Gage Richardson Indiana National Guard Rafe Silva we want to thank these students for their future service wish them the best let's give them one big round of applause thank you gentlemen foreign at this time it is my honor to introduce our keynote speaker for this morning Chris Snell is a decorated combat veteran from the Iraq
018and Afghanistan Wars he served in the U.S Marine Corps from 2003 to 2011 and U.S Army Reserves from 2011 to 2017. while serving in the Marine Corps Chris specialized in infantry as a mortar man and later in Special Operations as a weapons sergeant and completed his active duty in 2011. he then joined the U.S Army Reserves as a human resources Sergeant where he served in Terre Haute Indiana from 2011 to 2017 with the 159th military police battalion Chris finished his military career with 14 years of service some of Chris's military awards include bronze star with combat distinguishing device for Valor Army Commendation Medal Combat Action ribbon with gold star Navy meritorious unit combination medal and more Chris developed a passion for helping veterans after discovering the physical and mental aspects of transitioning back home after
019his own combat deployments he's been involved with veterans since 2011 through various volunteer organizations and employment sectors he serves as the veteran service officer for Brown County government and has been in this position since May 2020. he currently volunteers as a board member for leadership of Brown County he's the vice president and legislative liaison for the Indiana County veterans service Officers Association and assistant coach for his son's basketball team he is a member of the American Legion Disabled American Veterans Veterans of Foreign Wars National Association of County veterans service officers and in his Alum of the Wounded Warrior Project he's married to his wife Dee of 16 years they have five beautiful children together including one on the way and they reside in Bloomington Indiana please welcome Chris snow [Applause] well Noah I can go
020home because your speech was awesome I appreciate it gentlemen you can smile you're joining the military but you can still smile okay proud of you well what an honor it is to be able to speak in front of all of you today I want to thank superintendent Emily Tracy and her staff and the students involved in putting this together in recognition of our veterans and to everyone in attendance This truly brings to life a time-honored tradition here in Brown County before I dive in I'd like to take a moment of silence to remember and honor our local veterans who recently passed over the course of this year well Veterans Day is one of my favorite days of the year not for selfish reasons but because when I was a child I grew up attending ceremonies
021and parades through the years for some reason they seem to go away this is a day that honors every person who put the uniform on it signifies that we swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution it signifies that we believed in a greater purpose than ourselves and it signifies that we were willing to do what only seven percent of the current population was willing to do it doesn't single us out by rank and unfortunately we don't have any Coast Guard members here today but I'm still going to leave it out here we can honor you as a military branch finally because now we have space force all kidding aside veterans have been a Bedrock of Defense in this nation and without them our nation wouldn't be where it is today and for that
022I can stand here very grateful to you and your service it's one thing to feel grateful and supported by your service it's another thing to feel rejected and ashamed by your service sorry in the course of history for our veterans that will always remain a constant in our life and that will be our transition I have sat with many veterans and heard their stories over the course of my life while many are interesting I do not believe you could compel me I do not believe you could compel me to think that there is a more interesting story to tell than our Vietnam veterans I am so sorry I'll get it together as a veteran I'm continuously inspired and humbled by the hard truth they bring to the table out of all the veteran Generations in
023this room our Vietnam veterans encountered the worst treatment when they came home when they came back stateside they were told to put their uniforms away before coming home they had their uniforms ripped up they were spit on they were yelled at there were yard signs that said no dogs or veterans allowed some of them have been reliving their experiences in the middle of the night and have continued to do so for over 60 years but today I want to recognize our Vietnam veterans and I want to invite you all to stay if you have not received or felt your welcome home welcome home [Applause] I want to share my story of how I became a veteran but most importantly I want you to know my journey and some of my experiences during and after the
024military as I transitioned and how that continues to impact my life and service to veterans I'm sharing this story because so many men and women in this room have shared their story with me and it's my turn to return the favor back in 2001 when I was a sophomore in high school I watched on TV as the planes flew into the Twin Towers in New York City on 9 11. I couldn't believe what I was seeing I was full of surprise but mostly anger because I knew there was nothing I could do because I wasn't old enough to join the military I wanted to go to war I desired to kill every person responsible for the attack on our nation there was hate in my heart in July of 2003 I stepped into the Infamous
025yellow Footprints in San Diego California and joined the United States Marine Corps 13 weeks later I was holding the coveted eagle globe and anchor in my hand and earned the title Marine in February of 2004 I got exactly what I wanted as my unit landed in Kuwait and traveled for three days by Humvee to a location in Iraq that would begin a journey in my life that can never be taken away I was exposed to multiple gun fights multiple explosions on the side of the road motor attacks on base and suicide bombers I witnessed many deaths of my brothers the enemy and civilians there was nothing that I had ever experienced in my life this was not normal it was a lot messier than I envisioned any morality I had was completely shaken to the
026core and my life had changed forever this was war and this is what it looked like seven months later I trans just transitioned back to my base and went home on leave for a couple of weeks no one understood me or what I went through and I didn't know how to talk about what I had just experienced people would ask me if I killed anyone protesters outside of the Monroe County Courthouse called me brainwashed I couldn't stand fireworks I was called a baby killer at a party on IU's campus my life was anything but normal at this point I was glad to be leaving Indiana to go back to my buddies I was serving with about a year later in 2005 I was deployed back to Iraq this time in a much more dangerous city
027called ramadi on February 18th of 2006 I experienced what I thought would be my last moments here on Earth when our section was ambushed by the enemy with an RPG attack that disabled the last truck of our section I could hear the chaos beginning to consume my colleagues over the radio within a matter of seconds I watched through my night vision goggles a blinding Flash and could feel the concussion of an explosion that completely disabled the first truck one was down truck four was down and the rest of us were trapped in between the disabled vehicles I could feel my heart pounding and my adrenaline zipping through my body I began to take charge when I called over the radio for truck one to no response I jumped out of my truck to shoot up
028a red star cluster to inform our friendlies that we needed backup and we were unable to get out of the situation effectively I radioed over to the section leader to the other section of our platoon to immediately come give us support I radioed over to the other vehicle commanders to begin getting an account for the men I continue to radio over to our Battalion and requested a quick reaction force for additional support some of my men sustained injuries but they were able to continue fighting While others were reported completely down then I heard the call come over that we were missing a Marine I immediately felt my heart drop the driver of the first truck reported over the radio that our platoon Commander sustained injuries Beyond repair and was slumped over in a seat he
029also reported that our section leader was the marine missing the mission changed there was a new mission in all of this our mission was to bring everyone home regardless of how they come home I grabbed my best friend to come with me to find our section leader we ended up walking down a road that was completely dark and it was eerily quiet after traveling about 75 to 100 yards we found our section leader his body was lifeless we carried him back to the trucks and secured him to the quick reaction force Vehicles along with our platoon commander and the other wounded we loaded up in the remaining vehicles that were working and headed back to base and we were rescued Corporal Conley the section leader and one of my good friends died that night and
030Lieutenant Fitzgerald our platoon Commander passed away three days later in Germany on February 21st of 2006. again my transition home proved to be difficult due to the loss of our brothers just prior to coming home I wasn't done with my time in the Marine Corps but I was done with Iraq and I needed to change the scenery so I re-enlisted and joined a newly designed unit called the foreign military training unit in Camp Lejeune North Carolina that was later designated as the third Marine Raider battalion after graduating from the pipeline I was selected to go to one of the first teams within the unit to deploy to Afghanistan in 2008 which ended up being my third and final combat tour in 2010 I began journaling my comrade experiences and soon found myself collecting stories from
031some of my closest friends through that experience I began to find a new purpose in life the hate that was in my heart for so long began turning toward empathy and understanding I soon gave my heart to the Lord and I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior I still didn't have my life together but it was a stepping stone in the right direction my transition from active duty was confusing to say the least it had no plan and my family was relying on me to provide for them so I rejoined the military with the Army Reserves in June of 2011 as a human resources sergeant now some of the men and women in this room can find the hilarity in switching branches especially for Marine Corps active duty to Army Reserves and as
032a human resources Sergeant so this allowed me to continue to cover my family and I with health insurance and bring in some additional money to pay the bills that was my reason I officially got out of the military in 2017 and ended with 14 years of service in the military during my my Reserve time I took on several jobs within the veterans space I learned about Workforce issues transitional issues Veterans Services and networked with within every Community I traveled to during this time I spent time with multiple veteran service officers around Indiana and found their job to be very intriguing it was also during this time that I discovered what I wanted to do in my career and I wanted to become a veteran service officer fast forward to May of 2020 I became the
033Brown County veterans service officer and for two and a half years now have served in this capacity for the county this job has been a blessing to me in many ways I get to be a confident Confidant to many veterans I am constantly Sanctified through the work of this office and I'm always humbled by the incredible and impactful stories you give me veterans has have always been near and dear to my heart ever since I was a kid and when I came into this job I already had a vision set in place that was going to impact the scope of the work of our veterans Service office you see my vision for the Brown County veterans service office is simple it's fostering thankfulness to Veterans and their families what we do and how we conduct
034business is fundamentally based on that vision we do it with great pride and care towards our veterans and their families we provide services to our veterans by filing VA claims for federal benefits and we assist them with state and local benefits as well we help support widows during their time of need by assisting them file for federal benefits we provide in-home visits to Veterans who are unable to make it to our office location we educate the community in transitioning service members about their benefits and we partner with internal and external stakeholders to ensure our veterans are getting the best possible care they need and deserve one example of a relationship we developed is with access Brown County we collaborated with the Brown County YMCA and their access Brown County Network to develop a veterans Transportation
035Network that enables all veterans in Brown County to receive free rides to VA facilities in Bloomington Martinsville Indianapolis and Camp Atterbury this was a small but long-term solution to a rural Transportation problem for veterans another example of collaboration in the community is our work with Community Corrections and the Sheriff's Department these Partnerships ensure that veterans who are in legal trouble are afforded the opportunity to identify whether they have VA benefits that could assist them with their transitional issues this was a small but proactive solution to serving our veterans in this community that I hope will give a helping hand to those who desire to be helped during their trials and back to a road of positive impact within the community in July of 2022 our office was able to establish two Financial funds that are
036non-reverting and that will support veterans in Brown County through two critically important missions These funds were designed to be a small but proactive solution to establish a new way of fundraising that will serve our veterans in both transportation and essential needs such as housing and utilities you see the county office is a small fraction of the work being done in this community by and for veterans through a vision of fostering thankfulness fostering thankfulness isn't just for veterans it's a vision that can and will inspire an entire Community when it's truly implemented today we can literally find anything to argue or bicker about wouldn't it be nice to see a community that truly engages in fostering thankfulness towards each other many veterans around this community have implemented this vision and most people wouldn't realize it unless
037it was pointed out to them some of those examples are mowing the grass out in the Parks and Recreation Area conducting Honor Guard details to our veterans who have passed away in this community serving on community non-profit boards volunteering to be a part of the police or fire departments and picking up trash on the side of the road to keep Brown County beautiful fostering thankfulness creates a heart of charity it develops and impacts how we serve one another it comes from selflessness not selfishness it would incur I would encourage and implore anyone in this room who doesn't Foster thankfulness to begin finding ways and means of doing so it will make a world of difference so my challenge to each of you in this room today is to Foster thankfulness wherever you go in the
038community spread cheer that comes from what you are passionate about in life be a good listener for others so they can share their passions or be vulnerable with you enjoy each other's company and live in unity I'm so passionate about veterans and you should be too today we get to celebrate them all veterans thank you for your service [Applause] thank you I'd like to take a moment to thank our outstanding musicians who are assisting with our program today our Brown County High School history club for all of their assistants we sincerely appreciate a Brown County High School choir led by Amanda Webb Jenna Sears and Dan Ling and our Brown County High School band Led by their director Matthew Finley [Applause] veterans when the music begins our students will greet you and will dismiss You
039by Rose to the auxiliary gym where you will have your picture taken all veterans widows and your families are invited to stay for luncheon which will also take place in our auxiliary gym thank you [Applause] [Music]