001doing the things that kids in brown county today do enjoying sports like baseball as well as hunting and fishing as a teenager he spent his entire education in Brown County Schools and was a member of the first graduating class for brown petty high school in 1966 while in school he was known as a type of person with whom everyone can get along he was friendly and a happy kid that everyone liked including the ladies who found him to be quite handsome his sister sandy Summers described him as being a big header and someone she made everyone feel important no matter who you were his uplifting spirit had others at least favorite classes were woodshop and metal shop where he held many other students home the crafts and even lobbied in principle to allow girls to
002enroll in the courses as it weren't allowed during this time a mechanically minded student Larry had a natural ability to maintain and rebuild automobiles which he enjoyed doing which his father who played a major influence in his life the Vietnam conflict was an ongoing war taking place eight thousand five hundred sixty six miles from Brown County Indiana on the other side of the world Larry believes strongly in the ideals of the United States and was a true patriot which is why he did not hesitate to join the effort when it came time for the United States to enter this conflict Larry's father volunteered in World War two and was enlisted in the 26th Infantry known as the blue Spader's inspiring Larry to volunteer in the scene division in the conflict of his generation Larry left
003for Vietnam the day before his 19th birthday after only 28 days in Vietnam Larry was killed in an ambush while on patrol and a rubber tree plantation that was located northwest of Saigon during this patrol private first class Banks was with a machine gunner and an assistant machine gunner carrying extra ammunition when the machine gunner was taken out Clary and a fellow soldier John Young did not hesitate to act with no regard for their personal safety [Music] the world continued in the only soldier [Music] my Luminara got murdered George Miller in an alert submitted a proposal that was a squirmer to the community in a unity in your honor as a teener in another [Music] 17 individuals Larry's not a celebrity he wasn't anyone he's joining yeah I did a mini ministry and I believe
004in diversity and today because no one would ever believe that [Music] Brown County High School's Larry's Ebanks Memorial gymnasium plays a larger role in our community than just being a gym it's a place where high stakes basketball games are played in one where volleyball players challenge each other where we cheer where we compete where we get pumped for big games and where we learn valuable lessons from others this is a place for students to mark on an ACCI to their life and where we celebrate those who have sacrificed so much for our dreams all of these important in medical moments took place and will continue to take place and illiteracy base Memorial gymnasium but who was Larry teammates [Music] Larry was born on September 21st 1948 in Brown County Indiana he grew up do things
005at Hidden Valley Stadium enjoying sports like baseball as well as hunting and fishing as a teenager he spent his entire education in Brown County Schools and was a member of the first graduating class around petty high school in 1966 while in school he was known as a type of person with him everyone can get along he was friendly and happy kid that everyone liked including the ladies we found it he quite enters his his routines members described him as being a big header and someone who made everyone feel important no matter who you are his up of team spirit to others entities favorite causes were workshop and metal shop where he helped many evolution stones aircraft and he did a lot of different schools a lot of girls [Music] [Applause] good morning I'd like to
006welcome you all to our annual Brown County Schools Veterans Day program in malaria seed banks Memorial gymnasium my name is Laura hammock and I serve as the superintendent of this extraordinary district it is certainly appropriate that we are gathered in the Larry seed banks Memorial gymnasium today Larry C banks is one of bronconius greatest heroes and while we certainly wish that he was joining us here today I am confident that he is here in spirit for those in attendance who may not know the name Larry C Banks was born and raised in Brown County he attended Brown County High School and he made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation during his service in Vietnam we honor Larry C banks specifically today because just a few days ago on November the 7th we marked the anniversary
007of it being 51 years since this ultimate sacrifice was made will you please join me in sharing a moment of silence to pay our respects to Larry C banks thank you today we will also be honoring all of our veterans both living and past who have served so selflessly for the greatest nation in the world thank you for joining us this morning I do hope that you enjoy what promises to be a very special program and at this time we would like to welcome our most honored guests please join me in welcoming them as mr. Brian Gumm introduces each era of service mr. gong if everyone would please rise this year we celebrate the hundredth anniversary of the ending of World War one in 1918 as the banner for World War one advances please remain
008silent thank you and now our veterans the veterans of World War two the veterans of Korea the veterans of Vietnam the veterans who served in times of peace that ends of the lives in the Persian Gulf Iraq and Afghanistan and finally the brown county honor guard [Applause] Thank You veterans at this time that we ask that you all remain standing as our boy scouts post the colors [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] please stand as you're able and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you you may be seated we have a few folks that we want to recognize this morning before we
009get started this is a very special moment for us as we pay special recognition to any widows of veterans who have joined us today if you are a widow of a veteran would you please stand so that we could recognize you [Applause] thank you for your service we'd also like to recognize some of our visitors and honored guests who are joining us today I'd like to introduce one of our great friends in the Indiana State House would you please welcome our Indiana State Representative representative Chris May I'd also like to present today's keynote speaker a very special leader of our Brown County community commander Keith Baker we are also grateful to be joined by our school board members board president Steve Miller junior vice president Carol Bowden secretary Marlene Barnett's and our members Judy Hardwick
010and Stephanie Kreitzer [Applause] typically at this time we are blessed to have senator Eric cook join us for this special ceremony senator cook has been an active supporter of Brown County in general and Brown County Schools specifically through his countless efforts of legislative service on our behalf unfortunately the Senators schedule is such that he needed to be out of the state today he wanted me to send his personal regrets for missing today's celebration senator cook is a sincere friend of Brown County Schools and we are honored to have him serving our district and we look forward to seeing him next year but this year we are blessed to have state representative Chris May joining us I have sincerely enjoyed getting to know representative May over the past few years he is seriously engaged in workforce
011development for our region he is active in his support of veterans across our region and he's also been a great supporter of our work with the regional opportunities initiative representative May has prepared a few remarks of encouragement for us this morning and I would like to turn the podium over to him at this time would you please join me in welcoming representative May [Applause] ladies and gentlemen good morning and thank you for attending today's very special ceremony to honor our service members and their sacrifices they have made to defend our country thank you for inviting me and giving me the opportunity of person say thank you to these extraordinary men and women this past June had the opportunity to participate in the 64th annual US Army War College national security seminar after being nominated by
012my good friend Colonel Andrew Kobe short who is also attending the War College at that time Kobe and I graduated together from Bedford North Lawrence High School now don't hold that against him at the four-day program we examined current national security issues and exchanged ideas the seminar helped me gain a better understanding of the defense community defense community and get a glimpse into the lives of the dedicated men and women who protect our freedom I'm so very proud of Kobe and what he has done for our country and it goes without saying that he has made huge sacrifices to serve and protect but what is often overlooked as a tremendous sacrifice made by his family starting with his wife and children these are the same sacrifices made by you and our honored guests and their
013families here this morning my appreciation for our country servicemen and women and their families is truly indescribable you have inspired me with your love of country and I applaud you for sacrificing your time and talents to serve the greater good as members of the General Assembly senator Cooke and I had the opportunity to write and vote on legislation that affects all Hoosiers as we continually try to make Indiana a better place to live during the 2018 session it increased college tuition benefits for veterans provided resources for those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and eliminated the need for disabled veterans with disabilities to regularly renew their disabled parking placard we all made sailors serving on board of the USS Indiana which was recently put into service to honorary Hoosiers so they may qualify for in-state tuition
014all these new laws were brought to the attention to the legislature by fellow veterans and groups who support those veterans we know there is more that can be done to support our active veterans and we reach out to you to give us ideas and recommendations for new laws that may make life better for your military community again I want to thank you for your service to our community in our country and have a very blessed Veterans Day [Applause] next I would like to welcome two members of our local VFW post six one nine five Don burden and bill Hamilton they will be introducing the finalists and the winners of our voice of democracy and patriots pen essay contest after the awards are given the winner of the voice of democracy contest will read his or
015her essay gentlemen looking forward to this thank you dr. Emerich what I think you all the principals and all your staff for a fine program right after our voice of democracy gives his speech I have one more award to hand out today so I will be backed up here soon as our winner gives his essay our Patriot pin winners when I call your name please come down to receive your award first place is avery Patterson [Applause] when I mention right now going any further right after the program is over please all the winners come down here so we can get your picture so we can enter your essays in the district level so please come back down right after the program second place or third place for Patriots pin is Mary Rachel [Applause] second place
016Savannah Oh [Applause] first place Leslie [Applause] by the way their theme that they had to write on was why I honored the American flag now we go to the big boys voice of democracy why my vote matters was there sa thing third-place Noah Cochran [Applause] second place Chloe Robinson [Music] [Applause] first place everybody's gonna remember him he won last year name is Tanner Bowman [Applause] Danner's now is going to give his speech good morning when thinking of the importance of a citizens vote one has to look no further than the United States founding three principles which are best summed up by Thomas Jefferson who wrote in the Declaration of Independence all men are created equal that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights that these are life liberty and the pursuit of
017happiness these god-given rights that Jefferson expressed are bestowed upon us because of individuals expressing their right to vote when an individual steps into a voting booth and casts a ballot they are placing their trust into a candidate that will make choices that affects the voters every day live we see this in our Democratic Republic style of government through the appointments the united states supreme court orders select the president and voters select the senators these elected officials may not remain an office for an extended period of time but they have the ability to impact crucial decisions and rulings with United States law through nominating and voting to confirm a Supreme Court nominee this is an example of how an individual votes they're taking part in something much bigger than themselves something bigger than many Americans can
018comprehend I would like to share a story with you demonstrating how one vote matters the story tells about a young man in DeKalb County Indiana who made the important decision to express his civic duty and vote while working in the fields on Election Day in 1836 Henry shoemaker remembered he had to go vote to fulfill a promise he made to Madison Marsh a candidate for State Representative just as the polls were closing Henry cast his ballot for mr. Marsh Marsh won by one vote and after a lengthy recount it was determined that shoemaker's ballot was the tie-breaking vote at the time the Indiana General Assembly selected our US senators when the votes were tallied for Indiana's next u.s. Senator Edward Hanigan won by just one vote and that deciding vote had been cast by state
019representative Madison Marsh just a few years later now in Washington DC the Congress debated about military conflict with Mexico senator Hannigan of Indiana cast the deciding vote to engage in military conflict in the years that followed the future states of the American Southwest were added culminating the most dramatic expansion of our borders since the Louisiana Purchase all of which started when one Hoosier farmhand cast his ballot at its local poll site after hearing the story mr. shoemaker I realized how one vote my vote matters Thomas Jefferson once penned we in America do not have government by the majority we have government by the majority who participate this means as Jefferson described at the vocal minority who vote out of the whole trumps the silent majority according to the United States Census Bureau and the presidential
020election of 2016 roughly thirty eight point six percent of all registered voters failed to turnout and cast a ballot what if half of those voters had voted with the higher accuracy of the election have changed the outcome its responsibility of the American people to pick our elected officials wisely and with certainty picking them knowing they will do what is right for our nation and will hold the honor of their elected office with pride and honor because although the American people realize it or not their decisions do affect the future generations of Americans as well as the future State of the Union is the duty of the voters to be informed and well educated on the issues and problems we face and to act with the principles and morals the founders started our great nation with
021because although we might not believe it but one of us could be the next Henry shoemaker so why does my vote matter well at the age of seventeen I have not yet gained my civic privilege of voting yet but I do have a voice even though I cannot vote I am an active engaged young citizen I follow local state and national politics and constantly mull over how our ever changing political climate affects my life to me my future vote matters because it delegates my entire life it affects the taxes I pay it affects the regulations I have to follow up my place of work and it affects our servicemen and women who are deployed overseas as well as our veterans many of whom have a dire need for VA medical instance it also effects most
022importantly the state of our union Abe Lincoln in his Gettysburg Address triumph that the government of the people by the people for the people shall not perish from the earth therefore there are many things we can do to make a difference for our country but to me one small step towards making a difference and keeping our government for the people by the people is by making our votes matter thank you and God bless the United States of America [Applause] now you see why it was the Whizzer next ward I have is the very dear to my heart it is our Teacher of the Year this is our first time to have it next year we hope to have at least three winners one from grade school middle school and high school so at this time
023I would like to proceed Emily Luo [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Oh beautiful for Patriot dream that sees fiance mine alabaster cities God shed His grace on me [Applause] good morning my name is Matthew stark and I am principal and I have the honor of being principal of Bryan County High School the next section of our program is very special special because this is the time we recognize our high school students that continue this important military tradition we're very very proud of these five students and we recognize them just a moment it should be said that we were part of all of our students but a decision to other military is the next step in your career is a brave one as for this we're extraordinarily proud sirs please stand as I read your names and
024you'll be recognized Joshua Perry in the international guard [Applause] experiment United States beanpole Karen Lucas nice a sweet corn brother poni united states report fish rescued United States Marine Corps thank you for your service next we have more third parts of our program a very high school Wind Ensemble play and the choirs from the broad Caribbean school Marin County junior high school and abroad carry high school will see the pride of America veterans when you hear the song that represents your military branch we invite you to steep it as we celebrate your branch of service mr. god will announce each plan [Music] the United States Army that [Music] the United States Navy all day today the United States Coast Guard I the United States doors I'd like to take a moment to thank our outstanding
025musicians who are assisting with our program today we sincerely appreciate our Brown County High School Wind Ensemble and jazz band led by their director mr. Matthew Finley as well as our Brown County junior high school flow counter from County Intermediate School in Brown County high school choirs led by mr. Daniel Ling and was Christy Billings can we please give our appreciation so we have a very special Club at our high school it's the brown county high school history club our history club's main goal is to bring together students so that they can collectively learn read write and experience history together I would like to introduce the sponsors of this club Brown County High School social studies teachers mrs. Alicia Adams and mrs. Emily Llewellyn who will tell you a little bit about the activities of
026this club and will also introduce you to several of their members who will be telling you about a very special project that we will be sharing with you today this is Adams and this is Llewellyn well good morning my name is Alicia Adams and this is my colleague Emily Llewellyn one year ago we stood here and spoke of history club's accomplishments those accomplishments led the national history club to select our club as one of the top ten history clubs of the year we can we competed against clubs in over 44 states with over 17,000 students participating that's pretty darn good for our second year one of the most rewarding activities of the club is the genes for BC vets campaign Brown County school employees donate money to the Nashville VFW and in exchange they can
027wear jeans to work for the week leading up to Veterans Day over the last two years history Club has raised over 1500 dollars for our local vets eating and memorial expansions and scholarships at the end of the ceremony we hope you also will participate by donating money to the club members located in the gym lobby 100% of all funds you donate stay right here in brown counties supporting our veterans the club has a very exciting year planned over spring break we're heading it to Boston to learn about our nation's founding history and we also have several tips plan to go around Indiana to see other historical destinations here in our own state history club members are creating history and just recently we've also been preserving history as noted earlier this year marks the 100th anniversary
028of the end of World War one to commemorate this anniversary I had the pleasure of working with a handful of passionate creative students to produce a documentary honoring not only those who served in the Great War but our local veterans as well throughout the documentary you will see original photos of our veterans taken from the website Brown County veteran's SmugMug calm this website categorizes veterans photos by war forever preserving our County's long history of service I would also like to especially thank mr. Ron Higgins who helped us along the way to make sure all of our information was accurate and provided valuable insight now it is my great honor to introduce four amazing young women Kara Adams Isabella Ellen Ashley masse teller and little ADA lush these ladies will tirelessly interviewing local veterans and editing
029film to capture insights to help us better understand why our local veterans served [Applause] I'm Ashley mast cell er I'm Lily de Loesch I'm Isabel Ellen I'm Kara Adams and good morning and thank you for attending the V CHS Veterans Day program in creating the documentary we wanted to know what made our brave men and women want to serve in the military we had the amazing opportunity to sit down in each and every one of them to listen to their stories making this documentary was difficult especially when it came to editing the videos we didn't want to cut anything these are stories we all know we're once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to hear and something we will never forget these stories featured speak to us so much more than our textbook pages ever could these are men and
030women from our community who chose the past so much greater than themselves we all hope you enjoyed our video and on behalf of myself the history club students faculty and everyone attending the program we all thank you for your service war is a time where the world calls upon ordinary men to do extraordinary things World War one was no exception to this in fact with the number of men fighting significantly higher than it had ever been before and virtually all of the nations of the world participating in some way World War one became known as the war to end all wars while we now know that it did not end all wars the sacrifice of the men in the trenches of World War one was not in vain this was the war to change all
031wars the effects were not only seen but felt on an international level with the total number of casualties at 40 million people 116 thousand five hundred sixteen of those were from the United States World War one would end in 1918 on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month this day would become known as Armistice Day a time when the United States thanks all veterans for their sacrifice and their service in 1954 President Dwight Eisenhower declared this day a national holiday called Veterans Day this year our annual Veterans Day celebration lands on the 100-year anniversary of the end of World War one while we honor all veterans on this day it is important to remember that World War one like all wars was a time of uncertainty about the future of the
032United States this uncertainty was persevered by the courage and determination of the soldiers serving the country war invokes a courage not often seen a courage that truly inspire finds what it means to do anything to protect your country this year we wanted to discover a wire veterans did exactly that what inspired them to protect this amazing country this is what they had to say my name is Henry Marshall Bank Marshall serve in the army I joined out of a sense of adventure free trip to Southeast Asia and they pay you to I don't know a fella without her US Army I was drafted in 1968 has served and I've ever heard [Music] served with the US Army from 6006 day for bad my name is Brittany Miller I 19 years old and I'm an airman
033first class United States Air Force I joined the Air Force because I felt like it offered a lot of guidance and a lot of stability a lot of structure that I wouldn't really had otherwise but I got a college right away I've just been very thankful for the friends that I've made the experiences that I've gone through and I think my Air Force was a very good step for me that's really why I joined the military I spend my time in Thailand I am Keystone which I saw in Australian radio up and me as a private and even through the years of 2005 to 2008 when I joined Isis because I want to and also there was a huge humanitarian effort I can be a part of that branch of the military did you serve
034in were you in the army the Navy you're in the Navy all right and why did you choose to serve my friends yeah well why did you think it'd be fun seven years no face and my was that was between and she was after the mid-thirties kid and was in the Navy it was III because I've gotten coming up godbye destroy maybe 20 summers very corner and safety father's safety then tossed into service it's like specialist Joshua Brown from Nashville Indiana Brown County High School graduate in 2013 I enlisted in the Army in 2015 as a combat engineer I'm currently stationed with the 101st Airborne Division in Fort Campbell Kentucky the reason I joined the army is because I wanted to be a part of something greater than myself and to protect the rights and
035the freedoms we have as Americans today my name's and I serve because I included that I enlisted because I was drafted I got a letter just every few months with induction burners and I got tried drafted twelve times before I finally did [Music] IFT hobby hi I'm Kate Fox then airman first class in the States Air Force and I joined to work on airplanes as in there okay my name's Dan Kaiser I was in the Army came right out of high school and I had a very driving birds to fly the army offered a program go straight in from high school into flight school and I did that and became a helicopter pilot hi I'm James Fox the Lance Corporal in the United States Marine Corps not to want to serve something greater than myself
036I was you know air force for four years I had other brothers who have already served in the military and so the privilege to attend dhalsim my name is Kareem Howard my nickname teed I served in the Army twice first time 1944 to 46 in Europe and World War two and the second time in Korea from 50 to 51 first time I joined it because my family second side it was different during the first time that was one of the people that was in Luther month took over the concentration camp and after I saw what was there there and affected my life so I have waited it's either the North Korea was a repressive we would have another look at all Pentecost it's over the army was detained I'm so suing and when the honor
037guard of my County because my duty to today Vietnam is women that was drawn but I just fell under 12 years never in cornacchia their army I want to make our high school 1925 when I wasn't the record but the only thing with the service was about the only thing that we were open and I have to go where to start my name is Brian bladder a certain kind of force I joined the Air Force because I got an isolated I was too [Music] I had the Vietnam [Music] you have to you have to wait my name is Martin Travis hood I served in the United States Army from 1957 through 1960 and the thing rank of sergeant I served because so many others brothers and sisters served in the military and being the baby
038of the family I thought it was my duty to serve also the travelstead family has represented in the NFL in the military I was in the US Air Force for 33 years and retired as an eight-seat Master Sergeant I was also the first sergeant a joke remember was back in 1976 because I wanted to get in Malone that would be the easiest biggest plane and that kind of deal in the training and experience and after six years of active duty I take you down but then in 1985 I ended up going back into three servers too because I wanted to finish out my 20 year career in the Air Force hit and ended up staying for 33 years maybe so the United States on me I always want to be in the army since I
039was young and I love marriage so I could deal with our little in the universe of the United States Army why is this thing ever did next amendment what Gail and I in command with my name's Jeff Rylander what branch of the military did you serve in I was a statement yes I did it for you're not going like duration good idea to keep Terminix larceny I mean to be 30 and by the military police officer knowing as I've had a couple influential men in my life that have been in the military I've always respected them to having the courage to stand up and raise their hand and say I'm gonna do this I'm going to be proud of myself and probably what I was doing as well as I'm gonna my [Music] laughter it
040is thanks to all who have served and to all who are currently serving that we are able to truly be the land of the free and the home of the brave this Veterans Day we must remember our fallen veterans and show our utmost gratitude to our current ones and let them know their service is appreciated and will not go unrecognized to all military personnel whether it be previous or active we all thank you for your service if his parental calendar Jen look at adjoining brain for growth and he was also during the rainbow pillow to make a difference my name is Chris Schatzberg on 20 million groups because the commodity American are be part of the greatest team on earth hi I'm Josh berry I'm the National Guard the reason why I joined the National
041drives because I want to get a head start live and also because I want to serve my country [Music] I'm not quite sure I've got the words to be able to thank our students and our teachers from our Brown County history club but can we please give you just one more round of applause that was [Applause] so every year we are honored to be joined by a veteran who has served our country and is willing to share with us some of his or her testimony today we will be hearing from our keynote speaker commander Keith Baker of the United States Navy commander Baker has not only served our country but he has also served our County in a variety of applications from an elected official to a community volunteer commander Baker sits on 14 committees
042and boards across the county and he also serves as the president of our Brown County Council commander Baker is a great friend of the schools and along with his wonderful wife Andrea who serves as one of our elementary volunteer resource officers has donated countless hours of time towards advancing the experiences and opportunities given to the boys and girls of the school district commander Baker's experiences in the military are vast he's a graduate of Columbus North High School Purdue University unfortunately and the United States Navy Flight Training Command commander Baker served the United States of America for 20 years as a pilot in the United States Navy with 400 aircraft carrier landings and over 5,000 hours of military flight time logged commander Baker was operationally deployed on a variety of aircraft carriers including the USS Saratoga
043America Forrestal and Lexington commander Baker flew his first airplane solo at the age of 16 he began parachuting at 18 and he earned his Navy wings at the age of 23 commander Baker is the recipient of five Navy Commendation medals and the Navy meritorious service medal commander Baker founded the spoil high squadron in Atlanta Georgia this organization uses surplus military training aircraft to fly children who are battling cancer and he founded the website that jobs.com which is the largest online jobs board for veterans across the United States of America commander Baker you are a living example of a patriot I am so thankful to you for your service and so thankful that you will be taken to our audience this morning it is truly an honor will you please join me in welcoming commander Baker
044thank you try something different today I think that I'm miked up this is a most untraditional speech you ever heard folks I like to run around and jump up into the tables and be crazy because I'm a naval aviator if you don't know what those are you're about to find out I'm so honored to be here today with this group especially in front of us right now I wanted to thank dr. hammock the employees and students of Brown County School Corporation guests and veterans particularly our two World War two veterans that are sitting here again teen Howard Bob Richardson truly an amazing group of people we also have these folks that were identified as going into service and I appreciate you as well but you know they're not the youngest that we have here today
045we have organization in our group called Sea Cadets and they have been in training already and with us today I just raise your hand Toby Smith I see over there Brian Smith is somewhere around here I believe in uniform Brian and I think Brandon Phelps Brandon are here today as well give them a hand each of us has a unique story to tell about our lives and about our military service my stove my story is no more important than those people sitting in front of you today the truly great Americans I think may be superintendent hammock just didn't have any names beginning with the letter A when she called me in a in her contact list I don't know why I'm up here I see three groups here today veterans I see family and friends
046and citizens and I see the young people a bunch of old guys that serve their country some people who think that was pretty cool and a bunch of young kids are thinking who are these old guys again I know that we have fifth graders what are the fifth graders here today they put you the cheap seats don't worry you'll grow into the others you know it occurred to me that the fifth graders knew the eighth graders are sitting here today thinking hey really cool we're in high school all right the ninth graders are sitting here thinking I hope that old guy talks to another hour I don't want to go to class now the cool 10th graders are sitting there going where's my iPad where's my phone you know the genius well they just look
047the next door going hey do you think the cool girl saw me well ago what do you think I look good don't I but no seniors where's the seniors all the seniors seniors today you're scared you haven't heard back from college yet you're thinking oh my gosh I better pay attention I might need this information maybe naval aviators could be a little bit rowdy most of us still think we're 25 even though we live in hundred-year-old bodies but it was an amazing time of our lives I have with me today another naval aviator my buddy Jim sparks from Brown County Tim this wave say hi only reason I brought two sparks with me today is I don't like him ten yet you red flag ready there he's got a way to add if I tell
048something that's a complete lie or fabrication Tim's going to wave his hat he's a check-and-balance I was asked to tell a couple stories and every year we have this thing and typically I think how does it relate to the students some old guys enter that they're telling a story about or 100 stories about what he did back in the Great War and how is that relevant to you and how is it relevant to your families and will bring that home in a minute I guess I was first by dr. hammock I had to tell a little bit about myself I don't like doing that I may leave in one or two stories of my own and then we're going to talk about you students and we're going to talk about these wonderful folks here before
049you don't worry we'll be out of here soon you know the difference between an old war story and a fairy tale a fairy tale always begins with once upon a time and a veteran telling a story those begins with hey this is no kiddin this really happened I'm not sure what you'll hear today but we're working on that in my home I have a uniform hanging in the closet and all in that uniform all kinds of glowblade medals and ribbons it looks really cool except it doesn't fit anymore and I didn't want to wear it I appreciate some of you that have uniforms or partial uniforms that's important I did pee I did bring the cool hat though that's that's still still works it's got all kinds a girl braid on it but after the
050introduction I'm not sure I could wear it I mean it probably doesn't fit we'll throw that down there filers my place today and I closed this book it just means I'm going to tell a hundred more stories okay last night dr. hammock I had a unique opportunity to talk about what it means to be a naval aviator to one of your teachers and I said you know you're pretty crazy people wasn't naval aviators we fly off the ships and we do well you might think they're stupid dangerous things I said so I want to impress on the students how crazy naval aviators can be so when I give you the cue and you want you're going to stand up your eighth grade class and they're all going to take paper rods and throw it at
051me but he said well I can't do that he says doctor and it would get mad at me the reason I tell you that story is each of us down here in front we make fun of each other all the time and our service isn't what you flew or I flew we make fun of each other but don't you guys try to make fun of us because we'll circle the wagons and whip up on you okay so we we tease each other about Air Force or Navy or army or Marine Corps Coastie you're back there so I'll give you an example how that works when that teacher said I can't do that that wouldn't be according to the rules I might get in trouble I said you might make a great airforce officer someday I
052don't know if he got that who likes airplanes who likes veterans cool October 15th 1977 at five o'clock in the afternoon cold rainy overcast evening I found myself behind a carrier in the eastern Mediterranean I had been in the service at that time for two years I had just finished flight training literally on Tuesday night Friday morning I was in the Mediterranean flying as a replacement pilot because the squadron had lost an aviator that was sent right from the training environment to a combat type of environment during that period of time we were fighting what we felt like was a pretty serious Cold War the Russians were always trying to push us around and we were trying to make sure they didn't push the little guy around since I got there and I was a
053new kid without much experience joining a fleet squadron in their wisdom they gave me some practice landings every day that they could now keep in mind this is my second day of flying in the fleet and I'm now they told me to put my tail hook up and just do some practice landings in the carrier get two or three of those and then land when I was about out of gas well you spot the crazy movie I don't make a correlation to Top Gun but I'm fat dumb and happy thinking I got one more to planning to make and then I can go inside need a cheeseburger and relax when I get a call for something that's called screaming Adel I didn't know what that meant I was a new kid I looked down at
054my knee board and I tried to call it the note pad that said what the heck is a screaming eagle turned out it was some real-world situation that we had an American ship in jeopardy I want oh my gosh why me why me well cos you're the last one in the air nobody else can take off this ship give me a vector for this problem situation turns out the two hundred miles away off the coast of Tunisia and the Tunisians weren't very friendly to us at that time one of our intelligence-gathering ships was right at the 12-mile limit you can't get any closer that to another country without getting in trouble I guess at that time that evening that was a Russian warship that's trying to knock our US ship inside the 12-mile limit and
055capture it and I was the only kid in the air the ships they switched me up another frequency and said screaming Eagle your signal is one eight zero for 200 miles hey I can do this I'm going I felt like the cavalry myself a few minutes later I look down I realize I don't got the gas for this what are they doing I've been up in the air for two hours and I got 40 minutes of fuel left well at 520 knots most I could go on an a7 Corsair is about 600 miles an hour I wasn't a rocket scientist like some here I wasn't a math major like some here when I start figured out I don't have enough gas to go do this and they didn't care okay so I'm calculating and because
056I'm a math a math challenged person I'll go to miss Fox math teacher miss Fox how long has it take me in the air to get 200 miles at 600 mile an hour about 20 minutes okay and I got 30 minutes with the gas okay so I get down there pay in the whole time that there's no ship there to rescue because all I've got onboard me on board my aircraft are some machine-gun bullets and an empty fuel tank under my wing the fuel tank looks like the bomb so I'm hoping the Russian thinks that I'm armed and it worked well sure enough I get there and there's our ship trying to get away and this Russian guy trying to get him in to capture him and felt pretty good felt pretty good I put
057that airplane down on the deck we're about 50 feet up behind this Russian popped up over the head set up a strafing pattern over here what our guy got away and I thought what am I doing here I'm from Columbus Indiana what on earth am I doing here each and every one of us I think and the veterans remember a moment in time where we did something that made a difference today I will mentioned this story and later on a really much briefer story that tells you in my life the things that I remember most that made a difference the thing that David made the biggest difference to me was that I was going to have to go in the water when I got done but it was part of the real world and part
058of what I was trained to do I just hadn't thought it would ever occur you know I just came in to get the benefits and get some flight time the greatest thing in my aviation career was looking up 15 minutes later about seven minutes of gas left and in the mean time to ship it in sending the cavalry the real cavalry and as I looked up here come six a six Corsair intruders sorry Tim your airplane and two f4 phantoms to keep the bad guys off our backs and a really big tanker airplane with about 10,000 pounds of gas just for me and some of you may know we have the capability in the Navy of plugging in and taking fuel from other aircraft and there was a greatest ride home I've ever had plugged
059in the whole way I landed with more gas than I needed so it was a great great day let's back up a little bit when I was a kid I couldn't figure out why I loved airplanes so much it just I was eaten up with airplanes airplane magazines pictures all the time I was really little I didn't find out till later I think it's my dad had a little Piper Cub when I was born he got rid of it what my brother's here today gene when I was four three or four probably but later I saw a picture of that cub and I realized at some point my dad must have had me on his knee or something because I was eating up of airplanes while I was six years old our father was a
060construction worker concrete and he had a big pile of two-by-four it's out behind the barn and he used those words all the time to do his concrete work he made sidewalks in he made driveways and dad couldn't afford much in the way of construction equipment we had this big pile of boards that he used well six years old I went out and got a handsaw and I cut up every single one of them and I made this great long line of plumbers I made two performers about 25 of them took me all day sent him about the driveway waiting for dad to come home used every board he had and my mother said you wait till your dad gets home it's going to be tough my dad came home I never knew him when he
061was a pilot but I knew that he loved it and when dad came home instead of spanking me he had this great smile on his face and he congratulated me on having a squadron of bombers the squadron of fighters I was 6 years old my friends and I played army on the banks see I'm trainable army we had we played army with our plastic soldiers we probably don't do that anymore you guys but we'd go down to the creek in the sand and we'd lay out huge armies I mean of all our plastic soldiers I was a little weird I would climb up in the tree until firecrackers with my friend soldiers seeing how many I could blow up I think that's when I first learned that I needed to be a dive bomber pilot
062I wasn't a very good student in fifth grade my fifth grade teacher kept asking me why I was drawn over all the book I had at airplanes drawn on front back in the middle and then she did the greatest thing she could ever do for me she gave me a book but I never read much before that fifth grade but she gave me a book about Guadalcanal called the Guadalcanal diary by Richard Tregaskis it's amazing book and I from that moment on I couldn't get enough of reading about military history and those World War two idiots became very special to me in seventh grade my teacher was a history teacher most of all mr. Harris and mr. Harris let me write as much as I could about military history because he encouraged me to write
063as much as I was reading most I ever got out of mr. Harris was a b-minus last year mr. Harris came to Brown County to visit I had him to my house he still lives today and hope Indiana and I pulled out one of those aviation themes I wrote in seventh grade and mr. Harris this is the best I ever did for you sir sorry it was a d-minus and mr. Harris read that we pray he took a big pen and he made it into a plus so I I won finally if the risk have sounded terrible and not not good for your students I got to tell him I was an average student how many average students join me yeah all right good yeah well you know what there's hope for every students in
064the world who really believe in what they're doing it really had a dream and really wants it to go where they want to go in life I'm not as smart maybe as I should be but I worked really hard at it to get to where I got and and I think I represented people in this area pretty well you know there was 750 kids in my graduating class in Columbus at that time it was the only high school it wasn't a north or a nice and I was probably number 430 out of 700 whatever proud of my C+ average you know I had to go back and get tutors later in life because I didn't know how to do math with science and that for some reason the Navy thought that was important mrs. Fox
065gonna test am i that missing gene so fast forward I learned how to fly in boy whales brought down where the cummins plant is now was the Columbus Airport little place called Wellsboro at that Airport I went out and cut the grass and pump fuel in exchange for flying lessons at 15 started flying and and finally got the solo when I was she said when I was 16 it was a great experience for me when I went off to college I couldn't afford to anymore airplanes were $25 an hour parachute jumping was only six so I started jumping out of airplanes the cool thing was you got the airplane white on your way to jump so hey it was a good deal I trained in Pensacola Florida which is where all of my heroes that
066I read about as a kid I trained in Pensacola where the same World War two aviators trained I lived in the same barracks I worked out of the same hangars I checked my parachute out of the same parachute loft as those guys did in World War two and I just kept pinching myself saying hey your kid from Columbus what are you doing here the USS Lexington was the first carrier that I got to look at and it was a world war two carrier you believe in 1977 we were still using an old world war ii carrier for training great radio planes when you approach a ship that's that small the pitching deck it's a little bit scary and to do it for the first time is even scarier you know why they don't send an
067instructor with you because I don't want to kill two guys they the first time you see the boat you're by yourself and they kind of hope you do wallet so the roll in until the groove behind the carrier your first time ever and your heart's beating really big and you think I'm one of a couple thousand guys that got to do this this is pretty cool all my heroes were doing this one of the most fantastic pictures in my mind is that approach on that day in 1976 I have the option the opportunity to fly with some great Americans I think it was a discussion this past week with John McCain maybe here in high school John McCain was a friend of mine John McCain was an instructor of mine I flew my special weapons
068qualifications I can't tell you what that is or I have to shoot you but I tried to carry some rather unique weapons in a different time of the world but John McCain who became later congressman and Senator McCain and everybody knows who he is I think great guy I flew some of my flights with him one thing that rained out we had to wait about three hours to finish the training mission and John took me in the back room and said I want to sit you down and tell you my story and that's a very memorable point in my life is having skipper McCain tell me about his days at Scipio W his days as great American his days as you know doing what he did now kind of made me happy because John McCain
069was number seven hundred ninety two out of seven hundred ninety four students in his classes in college so maybe we had a lot in common great American right brings me to my last story in my part of this embrace Oh booth there are times where you think about things or you take a snapshot in your life that you remember forever well I remembered that Tunisia thing with that airplane and that screaming eagle mission none of us really knew much about that but it means something to me I later on became a squadron commander was in charge of a squadron of fighter bombers at seven Corsairs in New Orleans Louisiana or what circus that was I had 17 airplanes three full-time pilots and seventeen airline pilots all they did was come to town and party down
070on Bourbon Street it's hard keeping those guys straight but also because of our proximity in New Orleans to Houston Texas where the astronauts live I had two astronauts in my squadron that were reservists they came in and flew a couple times a month they were great great guys my very last flight in the airplane in the a7 Corsair fighter when out did a little flight that's so cool 200 feet 500 mile an hour drop some practice bomb somewhere came back over the Gulf of Mexico and met up with a flight of f15 Eagles and did bad fighting for 20 minutes hit the tanker took some fuel I mean we do it all the whole time I'm thinking this is it and this is the last one I'm gonna remember this forever and as we came
071in lower we asked for control to let us fly over downtown New Orleans what a cool place it you know 2,000 feet right over the dome and I looked at my right side and on my right wing was commander Steve space Oswald space have flown at that time two Shuttle missions as the commander of the space shuttle great great pilot went on to command our first as an admiral commander first Space wars command the small Wars out the other side and I had to wingman that day was two-time mission specialist Joe Tanner Joe Tanner great American loved into pieces either thinking kids from Columbus Indiana and I'm looking to astronauts back into the break I better look halfway decent I'll never hear the end of this but it was a moment that I cherish and
072a moment that I will remember forever that the Navy gave me that opportunity I want to talk to you kids about is service and what that means Service Above Self and the concept of service and self can you say that to yourself Service Above Self and service and itself some of these people in front of you performed a service above themselves as I look out I know most of the combat veterans here there were amazing people and they risked their lives and Sparky and I probably risk it maybe time we try to land on the boat we were so bad we never knew if we were coming back or not but service and self is a little bit different than Service Above Self you may be called to come above yourself but we have this
073crazy idea that unless I go into service of the risk agent killed I don't want to go into service well you can go into service and help your country and help yourself with education experience travel starts okay to have service and self I want you to remember those two concepts I was going to sell at the beginning of this part that Webster defines service as and then I remember that none of you kids probably have a toy what Webster is you know it was an old rusty dictionary that us mediocre students used occasionally so let's google it bingo says that service is the act of helping or doing work for someone above means at a higher level or layer and self does your a purse is a central being that distinguishing distinguishes them from each
074other from one another Service Above Self helping others higher level yourself now a veteran is defined by Google as a person who has had extents in a certain field well a second-year player the codes could be a veteran they were a uniform I'm not so sure that they have the same level of risk that these folks here had as a veteran so let's just refer to these guys and gals here as military veterans a military veteran defined by Google as a person who has served and is no longer serving in the Armed Forces service to others requires that you willingly volunteer to give something of yourself to make life better for somebody else you have to learn to build a place in your heart to help others it starts with you guys looking out for
075little kids on the bus or maybe signing up at school to help build a habitat house and before you know it it's going to be part of who you are this service thing how many of you show of hands have been involved with Boy Scouts 4-h or church raise your hand okay all three of those and there are others are involving service to other people unless you want to cite the Reaper you take your hand down now it sorry well there's a Marine Corps recruiter here today Lucia hey stand up look how many Marines are on the front row of these five guys four out of the five she's the one that deserves a medal she comes calling it to her house if she comes crawling at your house you're going to be simplifying under
076way I can did I know that I told her I said we have done talking I think this is going to be a target-rich environment for you let me put this in better terms someday when you get older you're gonna play in your driveway you're gonna be tired from work and you're gonna look next door and the old man next door is struggling with a mower trying to mow their lawn and they shouldn't be doing that at age 85 before you go in and sit on the couch and have them have dinner have a drink you're gonna go in the garage and you're gonna get your lawnmower out and you're gonna go next door and you're gonna murder that lawn and that couple is going to look at you with tears in their eyes and
077then you're going to realize how and how good it feels to help somebody else you're going to realize what service really means so how many kids you said raise your hand how many volunteer to help in the community what if you okay in the in the adult sheep seats and they have no parents so since how many volunteer maybe on a regular basis okay do I need to ask you guys in the middle how many ever volunteered raise your hand probably not right I hope that many of you have the honor of volunteering to serve your country as we have done but more importantly make yourself a promise right now that you will volunteer at least once before we graduate your ground County to help out somebody else in need so who are these folks
078sitting in front of you let's take a second talk about who they are what did they feel like when they went into the service why did they do what they did we we saw this wonderful video that explains a little bit about it right now I want everybody in the student audience I want you to look out to one of those veterans I want you to make eye contact and keep looking at them veterans kind of turned right and left forever let somebody pick somebody out in this audience and keep staring at them okay don't look away now smile at them now with each other you know they were students once they set in those same uncomfortable seats those bleachers are in right now they are the same thoughts running through their heads that you
079have right now no I don't mean how many classes you're getting out of I mean what you're going to do for service and you're thinking about your options about after high school what's going to be next for you for a lot of you and for us sitting before the story there starts to blend together again trade places with your new friends you just made on the court you talked with your high school guidance counselor maybe you attended a career fair you started asking adults that you know or relatives about what they did in the service and what their career path was you start asking yourself what will make me happy how can I get the most accomplished in the shortest amount of time with the money that I have available remember we all set the
080same seats that you set in for some of you in for most of people sitting before a military job made sense at that time and may be able to make sense for you maybe you saw a former student in the hallway who came back in uniform to check up on a teacher or said or say hello so to cover all the bases you wouldn't talk to a recruiter just like you did for the SAT or the a CT you took a test to see how you do and what career fields you might qualify for you started asking other kids in school if they thought about the military because why there's safety in numbers right and they can't be a crazy idea if somebody else is doing it finally you made up your mind to serve
081in the military but you were afraid to tell anybody at first what if they thought it wasn't cool when you got brave enough you finally shot your parents with the big news mom looked really worried and dad had that same little smile on his face of pride they look that you'd never seen before became finally a dealer when you had to raise your hand and commit to a real contract as an adult most likely it was the first contract contract you ever agreed on on your own without a parent those fine your parents didn't do it for you that oath is so important to us and that oath is going to be so important to you it's the first time in your life you've ever sworn to something that costs to you and that dear
082to you and it will last forever it means something to us I guarantee it first sergeant well the veterans order for oath what you're going to see now we're going to listen witness students is the first probably these these people have done since 40 years ago some of them 70 years ago some of them we're going to reaffirm our oath to our country raise your right hand and repeat after me I state your full name do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and that I obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me according to regulations and the Uniform Code
083of Military Justice so help me God first sergeant retired [Applause] so after you've done that and you swear in and school side come to a close at the end of the year approached you felt a lot of emotions maybe you felt some pride you felt some excitement you felt some apprehension and a fear of the unknown those of you who are drafted I know that your story is just a little bit different than the volunteerism but you swore the same oath and it meant the same thing to you after you did that you walked around the yard of your house you drove my to see a few friends that date approached we had to ship off he played with the dog spent some time with your boyfriend or girlfriend you had a strong feeling inside
084that the very next time you were going to see these things to do these things in Brown County you'd be doing him as a very different person and adult until that seems a different approach than going off to college sharing apartment with friends attending well maybe working in a restaurant in both of these paths college or a local job you can come home anytime you want to a mom will help with your with your laundry you can raid the fridge heads Brown County you can even drive through McDonald's six times and say who's home and who's hanging out that's going to get old I can tell you firsthand held both of these Phil because I experienced both military in college it was a constant struggle to work my way through school but it was college
085for me was the only way I could get to my dream of flying for some reason the Navy decided you had to have a four-year college degree remember I talked to you about C+ average it didn't get any better for me but I made it no matter whether you start some secondary education at 18 or 22 whether you will you go to the service before after college the feelings and the emotions are still the same you leave behind one life and you start another one you know - the first few months the military has this really fun camp where you get to march around and yell real loud hell boot camp and they teach how to actually make a bet not just pull up the covers and then tell mama that's done they make eat
086three times a day for five minutes total it's kind of a shock but I'll tell you something if fifty million people have done this before you can do it quickly the scale yelling part is all over and the marching stuffs over and you come back for a short visit and what's the first thing you do you put on a uniform you head down to the high school to see your favorite teacher or say or say hi to somebody or go see your friends because you're proud it's kind of a tradition and in that defining moment when you get to tell the world look at me I made something of myself I'm from Brown County and I've got the world that sale each store had point on takes on a different ending because in life it's
087what you make of it from that point on each of us have different stories and you will to some of us served a couple years some ten some of us stayed in for a career some of the people in front of you served some very scary places some in support some in combat a few came home injured and as you know some didn't come home at all we represented our country and our families the best we could and it made us a lot better people we seem to have come to a place where military service isn't as important isn't what it used to be and I I think there's something wrong with that it doesn't even make the top five of the top ten choices and it should I want to challenge you to consider
088military service because it's a great way to get skills a great way to get it occation and it's a great way to see the world it's a tremendous way to kick-start your life what you and all of us before you have or had to figure out is what is the end result that you want to achieve and what's a pretty good pathway for you to get there I'm actually going to stop there and go to the last phase of this because I want you to understand something we live in a world right now where military service has provided things for you that you don't even realize we live in a world even Brown County where leadership our families have all been affected by the military in one way or another there are people in charge
089of this County that you didn't know existed yeah you may know Tom Miller was a veteran where's Tom you may know that you got a teacher who was a veteran you may know that you've got three school bus drivers who are veterans you have a tech department person and a pair of pro who are veterans you're gonna rub elbows with them all the way through high school but what you don't know is some of our greatest leaders and I'm going to take just a minute and then when I'm done I want to tell you about a lieutenant that worked for me in the Navy who was a young helicopter pilot who was brash and energetic and said when he grew up he wanted to be an entrepreneur and we laughed at him he couldn't be
090here today but his name is Jeff McCabe Jeff McCabe founded big loads burying quote in hard truth hills Jeff's a great a great guy Ron Higgins would you stand one is a brown county graduate of 1986 his diesel engine mechanic in the knee naval reserve also from 91 to 96 he in 2007 became the veterans assistance counselor Ron is the best one in the state of Indiana but probably anywhere in the country I think though you keep standing and one has brought our County millions of dollars in veteran benefits for our veterans all over the county and what it what a great opportunity that it's been to be a friend of him second person you may not be aware of all keep standing there you go as I as I introduced these people I want
091it's a it's an imperative thing that you look at them and kind of get that optic about who they are the second you heard last year was my Kihara Mike if you're here would you stand for me Mike are you still here Mike Iyer thank you Mike is one of our true heroes here and I don't use that word easily there are people who are heroes mike-mike fought at the Battle of Khe Sahn you've heard his story before and he is solely responsible for the name of this gym nation because of his friend Lacey banks and we owe him a great debt to his country thank you Mike now you may think you may think that military is not a path to to being a smart guy so I'm going to tell you something something
092we have among our midst the guy who saw if two years as an enlisted Army soldier who is a rocket scientist with a PhD in solid rocket fuels dick young would you stand there you go this machine advances the way it applied mathematics and engineering physics in 1969 was drafted two years whirring probably that same uniform okay and 72 got his master's and applied mechanics and his PhD in solid-state rocket fuel in 1975 he was a professor of engineering at University of Cincinnati truly a rocket scientist I'm trying to know the next two gents because they're they're two of a kind local businessmen growth and Adam Nevins would you stand for me please now both Adam they said in these same bleacher seats was well they were athletes the graduates of Brown County High School
093both have been listed in the Navy after high school to learn ship code repair and equipment repair and now they own their own very well-known business of Nevins refrigeration that probably been to a house near you we're happy that they're here today Colonel Rick Kelly Turner Rick Kelly would you stand please colonel Rick Kelly if you've ever driven over Kelly Hill that's the lead right there it's Rick Kelly from The Fairly family Rick graduated from Brown County High School in 1967 undergraduate master's degree at some trade school up about 15 miles from here it wasn't Purdue in 71 after college reenlistment enlisted as a jet engine mechanic and he worked his way up to full colonel in in the Air Force Reserve and including squadron command on three occasions and it's really a great guy
094around here he's been involved with it with the Community Foundation with the 4-h extension office just a wealth of volunteer stuff so thank you Rick really we are led in Brown County by some halfway-decent elected officials and I'm happy to have the top dog here today after high school he joined the United States Marine Corps I became a state trooper he attended classes at the IU School of Trade [Music] he was a state police detective he was elected Brown County Sheriff and had an excellent term there and he became a brown county commissioner in 2012 Dave is currently the president of the County Commissioners Dave bernburg did you stand if you're here Darrin Darrin's back they'd and we enlisted into after high school was a fire-control minh on the USS horn coos guided missile cruiser
095in electronics he currently works as a CAD computer aided design technician in skills that he learned in the Navy Hill Hamilton behind me who has more bark than bite was it was a famous First Sergeant air force reserve or guide very reserved I get that wrong that a for stuff you know absolutely it's a sub service to the Navy he graduated not from here but from Decatur central in 75 when active duty in 76 and had 32 or 33 years in uniform we also had a tremendous career as a technician in a supervisor at AT&T skills that he learned in the service show ten boards would you stand choice Joe you're not just a token Coast Guard guy you're not the guy that checks our licenses when we go hunting we'll Bambi's are you you
096never put us in jail right Joe Joe went to a year of all after graduating high school in Evansville into a year college and then realized he needed help going to school and he joined the Coast Guard Reserve and they paid for the rest of his college and which is a pretty cool way to go and he serves still as a reservist in the Coast Guard and that's pretty cool well you don't know most of you don't he became a diver in 2013 and he has saved more lives in in our community in our state than you can imagine as a diver thanks Joe Rison the president of the Town Council if you could Bob : is here I think Bob Pollin after college Bobby back there you go after college Bob : served for
097a few years in physical therapy in the Army at Fort Hood Texas he spent 32 years in retail and Town Council for 12 years what a leader he was for the town of Nashville thank you Bob as president of town council next guy is pretty questionable he graduated from South Park High School in 66 University of Indianapolis in 70 he enlisted in the National Guard and 30th infantry artillery he was a respected schoolteacher before he went back and got his master's in education and became a supervisor in principle I want you to get to the principal thing I'm not so sure how much here on the side of the kids but I guess you're all right federal principle in high school in the brown county assistant superintendent in 1995 and our superintendent o7 mr. Dave
098Shafer day [Applause] Service Above Self in service and itself remember these gents started a lot of their education in the military or continued it it's important that you remember that the next guy is so pretty important to me he's another Thomas high school graduate 1968 briefly at Indiana University until the draft got him him a medic it was a medic for nearly four years I have so much respect for him he worked his way through college after the army working nights full time as an x-ray technician graduated for the University in three and a half years with nearly an A average and coming from Columbus Indiana I can say that a dream when you're meeting up your student like the next person is is one you really got to work for this man retired as
099a doctor in 2017 founded a business up in Indianapolis he is my personal hero as my brother dr. Jean Baker whenever I meet somebody from Wanamaker or new Palestine they do you know that crack I throw dr. Baker they go yeah how do you know dr. Baker well I'm prettier than he is and what smarter but he got the math gene and I got the reading gene so I think together we kind of work out Tony Cisco was with us and up on the front row and I'm hoping you never meet anybody here I hope you never need Tony firsthand Tony stand up Tony Cisco is our Jail commander captain Tony Cisco graduated Martinsville High School enlisted in the US Army he was in Iraq and o3 and oh for Army National Guard 97 to
1002004 also build law enforcement since 1987 and would a great asset he has to our community and again don't go visit Tony unless you really really need to Thanks [Applause] you don't find some amazing people in this community who you didn't know were veterans and one it's gonna surprise you right now this guy went to high school in New York he joined the United States code rancor in 1979 it was in the eighth 1981 as a corporal it was an infantryman with a rifle an amazing guy you know as your pastor of New Life Church Jim convoy I can tell you kids home don't mess with the preacher our chief of police in town been Systrom as a graduate of Brown County High School in 1995 became a navy CP enlisted person has done extremely
101well for us Ben would you rise hey okay Vince is done by phone or coroner a Pharma corner and recently retired fire department person from the Indianapolis it before Robbie Ayers Robbie are you with us today Brown County Brown County graduate lieutenant-colonel Chuck Yeager Santa Chuck how is it that a guy named Chuck Yeager is not a pilot I don't I don't get that he graduated on high school in 85 once college University Western Kentucky University believe us or not he was a diver scholarship diver off of the high boards I guess in college but he was an ROTC in college and okasan came Carla calling and he liked it he spent a whole career as a military policeman serving in Iraq guitar Wattana MoBay retired last year but here's what you don't know and
102you should know is that he is on the board of directors for do something Brown County he's an amazing man that really cares about our drug abuse problems in our County and is working tirelessly to fix those Thank You Chuck because you old guys are challenged there's only four more so it's okay we're done next is my friend Rick Fox Rick stand up for a second oh you already owe now Rick Fox was the IT guy here for a while he's our IT director in the county were a smart guy with electronics he's the go-to guy whenever we need help in this county for IT stuff pretty cool now Rick and I went to high school together he was in 72 I graduated 71 the current thing about Rick was Rick was an amazing gymnast
103on the state champion gymnastics team Rick was on the steering stuff and he had muscles that you wouldn't believe I don't really win trick but he was heavily recruited and have additional a scholarship as a gymnastics participant on the team and in college and did really well with that for a while and then he went in the Navy to learn electronic skills and those are skills that he helps us with every day and he was former enlisted on a helicopter he was a helicopter air crewmen thank you Rick howdy friends Meyer penny I can't sue but I know you back there there you go Patti friends Meyer fatty friends Meyer class of 53 Brown County High School she joined the Air Force in 88 to learn meteorology she briefed pilots on the water conditions and
104she lied to us every time after the after the service Patti's worked the number of jobs around the county she's in real estate you may know her as the new owner of here's a brown cabin rentals huge staff huge business Patti [Applause] Pat is head of our Brown County leadership program and also serves as the agent in the American Legion and on the honor guard and she does everything for us in the county they've paid also a guard a would you stand babe [Applause] Builders Brown County High School class of 73 active duty army 73 76 he works for Indianapolis Power and Light an exceptional technician and we're so happy to have him as the commander of our honor guard thank you Dave for your service my friend Jim sparks has not thrown the exageration
105flag once today and I appreciate that Tim Tim would you stand up gently a whole crew like I did only he flew the a-6 intruder a great airplane we have a lot of rivalry between the two airplanes but that's okay Tim graduated from Brown County High School in 1972 Purdue University in 1976 for the worst here's the college RTC he was a combat veteran of Desert Storm we came back together again and worked in my airline career my second career Tim recently retired as I did at Federal Express as airline pukes and you were in the 11 captain big white body captain and he has a big breakfast business in our County Tim sparks great American [Music] [Applause] the the three gentleman mentioned now you can all three stand up if you're still here Don
106is behind me Don burden Steve Lowery if you're here would you stand up and Hank marshal thanks back there somewhere thank good good steve is the commander of the American Legion inspiration for veterans in the county former enlisted was assigned to Germany Dan burden from Sheridan High School 62 was a Vietnam soldier he got on in 67 and his industrial equipment repair and then brings you to hank marshall the heroes that are here today hank marshall is one of the best hank marshall attended after mitchell high school attended Hanover college for three years and then Uncle Sam called hink Marshall was a combat helicopter pilot in Vietnam and I can imagine the things that he did and saw that I owe him my eternal gratitude for for what Hank Marshall did for us and Hank
107is our commander of the Vietnam veterans and Hank thank you for being here that brings us to a close gentleman you can you can have a seat thank you your knees still work there Nevins boy that's you basketball players have weak knees I know time to finish with this we talked about surface above self and service and self you can do both kids you really can do both and the military is a place where you can have a great career I want you to do something after high school to get that education I don't care if it's college I don't care if it's ot vocational school or the military but you need to get it find something in your heart that can that you can give to make this world a better place always have
108room in your heart for others the veterans we honor here today sure did they stove each of you we pay their sacrifice by paying it forward I thank you and I pray that God will a blesses your life [Applause] I think it can be said that on behalf of Brown County we are so gifted to have our own Top Gun and Commander Baker thank you so much commander Baker that was really extraordinary all right oh well done perfect good stuff all right I think we're going to move straight into our choir with their next piece which is god bless the USA [Music] if tomorrow all the things were gone I'd worked for all my life and I had to start again with just my children and my wife I thank my lucky stars to be
109living here today because the flag so stands for freedom and they can't take that away and I'm proud to be an American where at least I know one free and I won't forget the men who died who gave that right to me I gladly stand up next and her still today cause there ain't no doubt I love this god bless for us [Music] from the lakes of Minnesota to the hills of Tennessee across the plains of Texas from sea to shining sea from Detroit down to Houston in New York to LA well there's pride in every American Heart and it's time we stand to say proudly and under guard I know I'm and I won't forget the men who died who gave that right to me I gotta stand up next year an offender still
110today comes down and God bless yes and I'm proud to be an American where at least I know I'm and I won't forget the men who died and gave that right to me and I gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today cause there ain't no doubt about this and God bless you sir [Applause] veterans we hope we communicated to you all today how grateful we are for your service and how much we love you we started our program off this morning remembering the man for whom those gymnasium is named Larry C banks and it's appropriate that we end today's program by remembering him once again Larry C banks was just a boy from Brown County who I would like to think would be sitting right here in this space perhaps seated
111right next to his best friend alongside all of you extraordinary service members were it not for his making the ultimate sacrifice for our country during his service in Vietnam Larry C banks was just a boy from Brown County who will serve forever as our closest reminder of the brutality and heartache of war coupled with an even closer reminder of ideals like honor valor Service Above Self Larry C Banks is just a boy from Brown County who wasn't given the gift of coming home but we hope to do right by his memory to forever remember him as our hometown hero Larry c-bass was just a boy from Brown County whose life ended before he could advance his own education but will forever be honored in a scholarship that is awarded in his name and has impacted
112the lives of so many so that they can advance their own education Larry C bangus was just a boy from Brown County who like all of you brave men and women who are sitting on this gym floor today served our nation so that we can experience the freedom that we are blessed to experience today I am thankful for Larry C banks and I am thankful for all of you thank you so much for joining us today it is our great hope that this program will bless you a fraction of the way in which you have blessed us god bless you all at this time I'd like to invite the Boy Scouts up to formally retire our colors Boy Scouts [Music] you may be seated veterans when the music begins our students will greet you and
113will dismiss you by rows to the auxiliary gym where you will have your picture taken all of our veterans are widows and our families of our veterans and widows you are all invited to stay for a luncheon provided by Brown County Schools which will take place in our auxilary gym thank you so much for being here today happy Veterans to everyone [Applause] high school students I suppose don't you are dismissed to five a lunch or fifth period class I suppose danger dismissed to five eight