001you good morning thank you welcome to our annual Brown County Schools Veterans Day program in the Larry C banks Memorial gymnasium it is certainly appropriate that we are gathered in the Larry C bank's Memorial gymnasium today we will be talking a lot about Larry C banks throughout our program because Larry C banks is one of Brown County's greatest heroes and while we certainly wish that he was joining us today I am confident that he is here in the spirit Larry C banks was born and raised in Brown County he attended Brown County High School and he paid the ultimate sacrifice during his service in Vietnam we will be honoring Larry C bank's specifically today because just a few days ago on November the 7th we marked the anniversary of it being 50 years since his
002ultimate sacrifice was realized we will also be honoring all of our veterans who have served 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 at this time I would invite you all to please stand at this time we'll be welcoming our most honored guests please join me in welcoming them as mr. Brian Gumm introduces each era of service mr. gum I'll be introducing the veterans by era of service as the banner for World War one advances please remain silent to remember the Fallen thank you and now the veterans of World War two and the veterans of Korea [Applause] the veterans of Vietnam [Applause] those veterans who served in times of peace veterans of the Persian Gulf Iraq
003and Afghanistan and the members of the brown county honor guard thank you so much for being here I would invite you all this morning to please stand at this time our Boy Scout Troop 190 will be posting the colors once the colors have been posted this will be immediately followed by our national anthem that will be performed by the Brown County High School combined choirs and then we will immediately go into the Pledge of Allegiance led by the president of the Brown County High School history Club Tanner Bowman Boy Scouts please post the colors [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Applause] [Music] ladies and gentlemen please remain standing and if you are able please rise and join me in during the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance thank you may you may all be seated we
004have some special recognitions that we would like to honor before we officially begin our program first up we are delighted to be able to welcome the widows of any veterans who are with us here this morning if you are a widow of a veteran would you please stand as we honor you thank you I'd also like to recognize some of our visitors and honored guests who are joining us today I'd like to present our Indiana State Senator and great friend of Brown County senator Eric cook I'd also like to present to you all today's keynote speaker Lieutenant Colonel David Andrus we are blessed to be joined by members of the Indy Honor Flight team this morning would please thank those individuals who are here with us this morning we are so grateful to be joined
005by our school board members we are to apply all of them today thank you to board president Stephanie kreitzer vice president Judy Hardwick secretary Carol Bowden and members Steve Miller jr. and Marlene Barnett could we please put them at this time so we are just blessed to have senator Eric cook join us today 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 senator cook is a sincere friend Brown County Schools and we are honored to have him share a few words of encouragement with us today senator cook well thank you superintendent hammock distinguished veterans Phyllis T's students community members and honored guests I'm very grateful for the invitation to be with you today and it's my honor
006and privilege to serve you in the Indiana Senate on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918 in France an armistice that is a very cessation of hostilities was declared between the Allied nations and Germany in the first world war then known as Great War the war thought by many to be the war that would end all wars one year later on the first anniversary of the Armistice President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the first Armistice Day to honor the service of the troops in World War two Armistice Day became a federal legal holiday in the United States in 1938 and following World War two in the Korean War in 1954 Armistice Day became known as Veterans Day a holiday dedicated to all American veterans so today across the nation in schools
007churches community centers and parks people are gathering together as we are here this morning in one of our state's most beautiful ceremonies to say thank you to those who serve and pay our respects to those who have gone Veterans Day is a unique holiday and there is no other group of people who we as a nation pause together and honor in this way none no other group only our nation's veterans and today Indiana is home to over half a million veterans to those here today to those now serving and to those enlistees about to begin their service thank you and your families for your service your sacrifice and your dedication we must also never forget a very special group of veterans symbolized by the empty chair in front of me draped with a black and
008white flag those Americans still missing and unaccounted for and a veterans organization based right here in Brown County elder heart raises awareness that as a nation we lose over 20 veterans a day to suicide a reminder that for many the battle does not end when coming home nor should our obligation to them Brown County is a special place natural beauty great schools wonderful art and when thinking about that today I'm reminded of the words of President John Adams during the Revolutionary War in the letter to his wife Abigail on may 12 1780 he wrote I must study politics and war so that my sons may have Liberty to study mathematics and philosophy my sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy geography Natural History naval architecture navigation Commerce and agriculture in order to give their children
009a right to study painting poetry music architecture statuary tapestry and porcelain Brown County has sent many of her sons and daughters to as John Adams put it study war some never to return to these hills fortunately so many of them are still with us today as friends as neighbors and colleagues they are America's veterans and they are still the pride of our nation they fought our Wars defended our shores and kept us free may God keep us ever grateful for their service thank you god bless you all and God bless america Thank You senator cook next I would like to welcome two members of our local VFW Post 6195 Don burden and Bill Hamilton who will introduce the finalists and the winners of the voice of democracy and Patriot Penn essay contests after the awards
010are given the winner of the voice of democracy contest will read his or her essay welcome mr. Burdon and mr. Hamilton when everybody to know that when we grade all the essays we have no idea who they are their sight unseen and so we try to make it a lot more honest if you want to call it that but we have no idea who we are reading and who we are judging this year on Patriot's pen we only had two entries which we had a lot more but there sa was America's gift to my generation and when I call your name down please come down and immediately after the program I will need you to come back down so we can take picture where your entry will be sent on to our district and hopefully
011we'll get some winners like we did last year from district and from district you go to the state from state they go to national a national winner for patrons pin wins a thousand dollars as well as all-expense-paid trip to Washington DC for their parents as well as the winner voice of democracy winner goes the same way they will earn at last year they earned a $30,000 scholarship so it behooves all high school students if you're interested in going to college to participate and maybe win one of the scholarships so Patriot pin I will hand out our certificate my senior vice be off Hamilton is going to hand out the medals that goes along with these so second place for Patriot pin is Kylie burger first place Patriots pin goes to Savannah Poli might also say
012there was only one point difference in their scoring our voice of democracy the essay was to be our hope for the future and some of them were very very good our third-place winner who will receive a certificate a medal and a check from post 6195 as well as being in then into our victory contest for hopefully more money third place that Lena Rose Hobbs certainly excuse me goes through Alison our stubs do first place I know he's been sitting up here beside me that's why I wanted to let everybody know I had no idea when we graded who was gonna win but first place goes to Tanner Bobo thank you and bear with me in 1776 our founding father set a precedent in world history breaking free from the persecution of England and signing the
013most famous document in world history the Declaration of Independence in the hopes of trying to better the future of their new country these elite gentlemen created a government unlike any other from the new government to contain a bicameral legislature an executive leader elected by the people for the people and the supreme court balanced the power between the other two branches the founders hoped by creating this new democratic republic that the children would be able to grow up in a country equal to his fellow man to have the opportunities to better themselves to receive representation for their taxation and for each man woman and child to have the rights to life liberty in the pursuit of happiness 85 years later an attorney from the state of illinois was hoping abraham lincoln 16th president of the united
014states was fighting a civil war stating that a house divided against itself cannot stand Lincoln hoped to reunite the country and to settle his country men's differences for the greater good we can also hope to accomplish a feat deemed impossible at the time of the founders free the slaves through his hope Lincoln was able to lead the Union Army to victory emancipate the slaves and reunite the country Lincoln was able to end the war and reunite the Union and she's been hopeful to rebuild the country he loved like and looked forward to the future however assassination led the great Emancipator to his grave on April 15 1865 saddened by the murder of their president the people had no the people had one thing Lincoln left them hope and the drive to reunite and reconstruct themselves
015and to become better than the nation had ever been before 1932 the newly elected President Franklin Delano Roosevelt struggles to come up with a solution to the Great Depression his country struggles with with half of the nation's banks closed at an employment close to 30% Roosevelt looked to his fate and his country and instituted a plan he hoped would help the New Deal by investing in his country Roosevelt is able to pull his country out of the greatest depression the United States had ever known with the country and recovery rose vote looks ahead and hopes to further the extent of recovery however a surprise attack on the nation's anchored Pacific Fleet forced those plans to be abandoned killing 2400 - Americans now faced by an empire of ruthless might Roosevelt began strengthening the united states
016armed forces commissioning American companies to build the vital equipment needed for war knowing he was facing an uphill battle Roosevelt hoped I looked toward his faith in the countrymen to defend their nation and to rid the world of evil although Roosevelt never lived to see the end of the war all his hopeful vision became a reality the Americans were able to defeat the autocratic government of Nazi Germany and destroy the Empire of Japan as an added bonus due to the war effort and limited work for stateside America's economy had recovered from the depression with an unemployment rate of 1.9 percent Franklin Roosevelt's hope became a reality it was the calm morning this guy was a bright blue it was not a cloud in sight as commuters were bustling to their jobs they turned their heads
017to the sky to the sound of roaring jet engines and deafening explosions the World Trade Center had been attacked meanwhile unbeknownst the rest of the country another hijacked plane was enroute to the Northeast United flight 91 aware of the hijackers plans several brave Americans attacked hijackers an effort to retake control of the plane unfortunately the plane its passengers all perished America grieved after 9/11 and vowed to kill the men that planned bloodiest attack on American soil that killed 2977 innocent men women and children once America learned the story of United 93 it billed Americans with a sense of hope that you may knock us down we will get right back up again within a few years plans were presented for a new tower called one World Trade Center standing 1770s speed call a symbol of
018America's hope for the future and our resilience to stand right back up again today year's 2017 I'm a 16 year old male growing up in the United States of America as we stand now by hope for America is to once again stand as one United I hope for an america that treats its veterans with respect and honor they deserve to fight for our rights and freedoms i hope for an America that can work together for the common good of the people I hope we're strong in America an America that has the power to defend itself from all enemies foreign and domestic I hope for an America that is not scared to work for what it wants and to work for a better greater future for ourselves and for our young thank you and God bless
019the United States of America [Music] [Applause] [Laughter] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] next is a very special time in our ceremony because this is the time we get to recognize our high school students who have made the very important decision to enlist in the military we are very proud of these three students that we will recognize in just a moment we're proud of all of our boys and girls that's for sure but the decision to enter the military as the next step in your career is a brave one and it is one for which we are extraordinarily proud students please stand as I read your names and we recognize you Keegan Daniels the United States Army [Applause] Zachary kuzma the United States Army Seth Matlock the Army National Guard [Applause] thank you so much for your
020service next we have one of our favorite parts of our program our Wind Ensemble will play one of our favorite tunes and our junior high school and high school choirs will sing the pride of America veterans when you hear the song that represents your military branch we invite you to stand as we celebrate your branch of service [Music] the United States Army [Music] the United States Marines [Music] the United States Navy [Music] [Laughter] the United States Coast Guard [Music] the United States Air Force [Music] I heard our friends from the Marine Corps cheer quite loudly on that one it's fitting since today November the 10th is the official birthday of the Marine Corps happy birthday I'd like to take a moment to thank the outstanding musicians who are assisting with our program today we sincerely
021appreciate our Brown County High School Wind Ensemble led by their director mr. Matthew Finley as well as our junior high school choir led by Miss Mary Pierson and our high school choir led by Miss Christi Billings thank you to these talented students and their director we have a very special Club at Brown County High School it is our Brown County High School history Club I would like to introduce the sponsors of this club Ms Lisha Adams and mrs. up mrs. Alicia Adams and mrs. Emily Llewellyn who will tell you a little bit about the activities of this club and they 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 mrs. Adams and mrs. Llewellyn my name is
022Emily Llewellyn and this is my colleague Alicia Adams last year marked the inaugural year Brown County High School's history Club and it's been an exciting year for us Brown County students met authors at the Indiana author fair visited the Air Force Museum the Underground Railroad Freedom Center attended the high Renaissance Festival and that the first lady of Indiana mrs. Janet Holcomb to name a few things that we've done our club members have accomplished quite a bit likely two of our proudest accomplishes accomplishments though included many sitting right here in this room one year ago today we sat here at this veteran's ceremony and announced that our club was sponsoring what we called Brown County jeans for genes for Brown County vets campaign this club raised five hundred and sixty dollars for our local VFW posts
023because our employees donated money in order to wear jeans for one week at school those dollars supported the improvements to the Veterans Memorial adjacent to the courthouse this year we like to extend these efforts to all of you here in the gym lobby after the ceremony our club members will be shakin some canisters trying to collect funds for our local VFW post those funds support our local scholarships and any improvements to veterans memorials or anything else that are supporting our local veterans 100 percent of those dollars are going to stay right here in Brown County and so Brown County let's do our part and support those who have sacrificed for our freedoms additionally over the past year history club students interviewed over a dozen local veterans and submitted their stories to the Library of Congress
024in Washington DC preserving our local history on a national level isn't that amazing the veterans sitting before you and many others in the community told their stories to our students leaving lasting legacies and unforgettable memories for our students we had kids that were crying kids that were super excited to be a part of this and they were very happy to take part in preserving your history this preservation of local history led to club members to their latest project I would like to introduce you to Mackenzie Zdenek and faith Eadie this year marks the 50th anniversary since Larry C banks paid since Larry C banks paid the ultimate sacrifice to commemorate this event faith and I were tasked with researching his story in creating a piece that cut might come close to bringing Larry C Bank
025story to life and therefore helping us understand who he was and his importance to Brown County's history so many of us have played volleyball or basketball or even taking a gym class right here in this gym the lyrics Ebanks Oriole gymnasium overall we think Larry's story could be summarized in a simple phrase he was just a kid from Brown County like you and me yet he felt a calling to serve his country Brown County High School's Larry C bank's Memorial gymnasium plays a larger role in our community than just being an M it's a place where ice takes basketball games are played in one where volleyball players challenge each other where we cheer where we compete we're ready get pumped for big games and where we learned valuable lessons from others this is a place
026where students embark on the next stage of their life and where we celebrate those who have sacrificed so much for our freedoms all of these important and memorable moments took place and will continue to take place in the Larry C bank's Memorial gymnasium but who was Larry C banks [Music] Larry was born on September 21st 1948 in Brown County Indiana he grew up doing the things to kids in Brown County they 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 from Brown County High School in 1966 while in school he was known as a type of person with whom everyone could get along he was friendly and a happy kid everyone liked
027including the ladies who found him to eat white and his sister Sammy summers described him as being a big header and someone who made everyone feel important no matter who you were his uplifting spirit put others at ease favorite classes were woodshop and metal shop where he helped many other students hone their craft and even lobby the principal to allow girls to enroll horses as it weren't allowed during this time a mechanically minded student larry has natural ability to maintain and rebuild automobiles which enjoy doing with his father who put a major influence in his life the Vietnam conflict was an ongoing war taking place eight thousand five hundred sixty-six miles for Brown County Indiana on the other side of the world Larry believes strongly in the ideals of the United States and was a
028true 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 blues faders inspiring Larry to volunteer in the same division in the conflict of his Jenner Larry left for 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 his 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 Larry and a fellow soldier John Young did not hesitate to act with no regard for their personal safety
029they stayed out in the open and picked up the gun continuing to fire at the enemy allowing their fellow squad members to escape and melting the barrel out of the gun before being overrun both men were killed during the battle and were posthumously awarded the Bronze Star for valor for their efforts as Larry's award of the Bronze Star Medal statement reads his bold initiative and dauntless courage significantly contributed to withdrawal of the other members of his squad first class Banks is outstanding display of aggressiveness devotion to duty and personal bravery is in keeping with the finest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself although Larry's service was cut short the war continued until 1973 when American troops were withdrawn Larry was the only soldier from Brown County to perish in the
030conflict in 1994 at Larry's high school classmates Michael O'Hara Gus Schroeder George Miller and Lee Maggard submitted a proposal with the support of the community to name the gymnasium in Larry's honor Jim was dedicated on Veterans Day of same year in another effort to memorialize Larry and other Brown County veterans it was decided that every year the flags in Nashville would lowered to half-mast from November 7 until November 11 each day commemorating one of the five major conflicts of the 20th century Larry C Banks's legacy extends not only to the gymnasium at Brown County High School but also did the Larry C Bank scholarship funds Brown County graduates going into vocational training as that is likely what Larry would have done students who received the scholarship pursue careers as dental hygienists veterinary assistants diesel mechanics
031and more to this day a little more than 20 thousand dollars has been awarded to over seventeen individuals fifty years ago Larry banks bravely paid the ultimate sacrifice Larry was not a celebrity he wasn't anyone famous he was just a boy from Brown County yet he died defending our country and upholding the beliefs of democracy and patriotism today his memory lives on every day as students enter Brown County High School's gymnasium it will continue to live on long after current students graduate pursue their dreams and fill their life goals as long as the Larry C bank's Memorial gymnasium stands so - Oh Larry's legacy because this someone once said no one has ever really dead until they are forgotten [Music] I had the opportunity to watch that video before it was shown and I'm struck
032by the incredible ability of our students that was put together by our Brown County History Club and it was magnificent thank you so much in continuing with our 50th commemoration of the ultimate sacrifice of Larry C banks I'd like to ask mr. Michael O'Hara to please come up to the stage mr. Killinger could you help me out sir I am confident that across the world today there is no better best friend than you you have stood as a champion for your best friend for the past 50 years and there is no greater honor than that Brown County school stands in awe of work that you have done to ensure that the memory of your best friend Larry C banks is forever remembered treasured and honored for generations to come as we mentioned at the beginning
033of today's program just a few days ago on November 7th 2017 we had the occasion of commemorating the 50th anniversary of the ultimate sacrifice of your best friend Larry C banks in order to commemorate the 50th anniversary we wanted to share with all who pass through Brown County that this is the Larry C bank's Memorial gymnasium and as you can now see from State Road 46 we raise new signage shows the world that this is brown county high school and even more important this is the Larry C bank's Memorial gymnasium Mr O'Hara you have insured through countless actions that Larry's name is never forgotten to illustrate this I wanted to tell you a story about how this sign is already making an impact I was walking out of church this past Sunday and a gentleman
034came up to me and he shared that he had helped raise the sign on our gymnasium and I thanked him and I said that it looked great because it does and he immediately asked who is Larry C banks and I was then able to tell him Larry's story we have so many folks who passed through our community who will be asking the very same question and we will be ready with an answer Mr O'Hara we hope you enjoy that sign that will now face to Road 46 well into the future as well mr. Killinger has something to give you right now - remember the 50th commemoration with us today we have another gift of remembrance this morning we're joined this morning by two very special guests Larry seed banks had three sisters and we are
035blessed to be joined by two this morning mrs. Sandra Sommers and mrs. Lintz append toga ladies do you mind to join us up on stage please welcome them yep we're gonna make you do this as well I would like to ask to Brown County High School students Emma Somers and Riley arnholt who are also family members of Larry banks to come up to the stage to help us make the special presentation [Music] hello my name is Emma Somers and this is my cousin Riley our home Larry C banks was our great-uncle his sister Sandra summers is our grandmother our grandma's interview was incredibly important in creating documentary that you just watched she provided many of the references regarding Larry's character Larry's memory is kept alive through stories told by our grandmother as well as her
036sisters Linda and Cathy and those who knew Larry grandma and aunt Linda are here with us today and we would like to thank them for sharing their memories of Larry with us and help keeping help keep his legacy alive now we aren't with you guys yet one last thing very important piece to this celebration so Mr O'Hara and the family has worked tirelessly in order to ensure that the Larry C bank's Memorial Scholarship is given to students who are in need the scholarship has touched the lives of 19 young people 19 young people that is just magnificent we have invited the recipients of this scholarship to celebrate in the fiftieth commemoration with us today I'd like to invite those recipients up to the stage if you don't mind please stand come on friends these young
037people have been blessed because of the scholarship in Larry's name congratulations I don't know much but I'm pretty confident about one thing I do believe that Larry banks is smiling down on all of you from heaven right now thank you 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 Lieutenant Colonel Dave Andrus Lieutenant Colonel David J Andrus entered service with the United States Army in 1985 as a private with echo company 10th engineers in Kitts engine Germany I hope I said that right he joined the Indiana Army National Guard in 1995 he attended OCS Officer Candidate School and was commissioned in 1996 as a field
038artillery officer he holds a baccalaureate degree in telecommunications from Indiana University his military institutional training includes Officer Candidate School field art field artillery officer basic course field artillery officer advanced course and command and General Staff Officer course his duty assignments include battery fire support team chief battery fire direction officer company s1 personnel officer company s3 Operations Officer company commander battalion s3 operations officer battalion XO executive officer Maycomb s1 personnel officer and is currently serving as the 81st troop command g3 Operations Officer his overseas assignment was as the operations officer for the 219th ADT in Afghanistan Lieutenant Colonel Andres has been awarded numerous awards to include the Bronze Star meritorious service medal 3d award army commendation medal fourth award army Achievement Medal 2d award and the combat action badge to name a few Lieutenant Colonel Andres
039and his wife Lucy reside in Frank in Indiana they have three children grace William Philip and one granddaughter Heidi please join me in welcoming Lieutenant Colonel Andres good morning and thank you for the nice introduction and before I get with my remarks I just want to tell a quick story of how I started my military career as you heard back in 1985 I was dating at the time my now wife Lucy and I said you know I would like to join the military what do you think she said well go check it out so I got a hold of the local army recruiter he showed me this great video of Engineers they were wearing a hard hat building buildings and I thought well that'd be kind of neat I could use that skill later in
040my life so I joined went to basic training found out it was a combat engineer nothing like the video and then I also found out that they were gonna send me to Germany so I had to make a phone call to my girlfriend and said hey I just found out I'm going to Germany for two years we can either get married or probably never see each other again so she dropped out of college married me and went to Germany and I think finally after 31 years of marriage your families let me out of the doghouse and accepted me now so but that's how I started my military career it's an honor to be here today and to be part of your Veterans Day program when your principal mr. Killinger asked me to be a guest
041speaker I wanted to come up with you know a topic that would cover all veterans and all branches of service so instead of talking about my career or my deployment I came up with the topic that would be more appropriate for Veterans Day and what would be more appropriate than talk about the history of veterans today so I hope you take away something new from this that you didn't know before so who is a veteran veterans are people who served in the military the US Army the Army Navy Air Force Marines and Coast Guard during times of war and peace so how did Veterans Day originated back in World War one it started in 1914 with the Allied powers of Great Britain France Russia Italy Japan and eventually to the u.s. in 1917 fighting the
042Central Powers of Germany austria-hungary and the Ottoman Empire on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 the Allied powers and the Central Powers agreed to an armistice World War one is known as the Great War for its devastation and the massive loss of lives it lasted from 1914 to 1919 an armistice ceasing of hostilities was set for November 11th 1918 at 11:00 a.m. that is eleventh day of the eleventh month you can see on the picture the last two minutes of fighting in France is pictured at 2:58 a.m. a year later in 1919 President Woodrow Wilson signed legislation proclaiming the first Armistice Day originally he envisioned a two-minute period of silence nationwide he also envisioned there be parades and celebrations to honor commemorate our fallen war heroes President Wilson
043announced to us in America the reflection of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country service and with gratitude for the victory both because of the things from which it has freed us and because the opportunity has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the council's of the nations a year later the u.s. is not only a nation to commemorate Armistice Day in 1920 France created a Tomb of the Unknown Soldier as a way to honor those who were buried in nameless grave he was a picture of that there it lies beneath the arc in Paris and this type of tradition began in Denmark in 1858 it was also done after the civil war in the US on November 11th 1920
044the United Kingdom also created - the Unknown Soldier and it lies within Westminster Abbey a famous cathedral in the fall of 1921 the United States Congress passed legislating creating our Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery like the memorials in France and the United Kingdom this is a way to recognize and honor our fallen heroes of war whose bodies were buried without being identified that same fall Congress passed another law it declared November 11th 1921 illegal federal holiday to honor all those who had participated in the war both living and dead pictured is present with Grille Wilson on Armistice Day in 1921 in 1926 yet another resolution Congress authorized the president crane to proclaim annually the servants of Armistice Day but our Constitution allows States the right to determine what holidays they observe
045in the 20s and 30s most days States observed November 11th as a holiday and the pictured is President Calvin Coolidge speaking on Armistice Day in 1926 at Arlington National Cemetery Raymond weeks of Birmingham Alabama organized Veterans Day Parade for that city on November 11th 1947 to honor all of Americans veterans for their loyal service later US Representative Edward Reese of Kansas proposed legislation changing the name Armistice Day Veterans Day to honor all who have served in America's armed forces on June 1st 1954 President Dwight Eisenhower signed a law that called for a name change US War veterans had served not only in World War one but also World War two and the Korean War and the new observance would now be called Veterans Day in 1968 Congress passed a Monday holiday law holidays like Veterans
046Day Memorial Day and Presidents Day would be celebrated on Monday from then on Veterans Day was changed to be the fourth Monday in October being at beginning in 1971 initially from 1971 to 1975 almost all 50 states adopted the Monday holiday in 1972 Louisiana and Wisconsin reverted to the November eleventh day in 1974 Kentucky was the first of many states particularly in the south to follow suit and change Veterans Day back to November 11th one by one it's a common embrace and by 1975 so many states reverted to the November 11th date that the US Congress changed the national law and starting in 1978 Veterans Day returned to November 11th up Pickard now are just America's foreign wars World War One World War two the Korean War Vietnam War the Gulf War and the war
047on terrorism next slide not too many people know that Indianapolis devotes more acreage than any other US city to honoring our nation's fallen and the second only to Washington DC in the number of war memorials and if you have the opportunity there is just north of the circle up in Indianapolis a place called the Indiana War Museum if you have the opportunity to get up there check that out in the basement they have a museum that shows every single conflict every single war in our history from the Civil War to present and then also upstairs there is a shrine that's unbelievable to see to honor all the fallen soldiers so if you have an opportunity get up to Indianapolis to check out all the monuments honoring all the veterans and what can you do on
048Veterans Day so what I say to you is to take the time to talk to a veteran because as of now there are no more World War one veteran's so take the opportunity to reach out and learn from the World War two veterans the Vietnam veterans the Korean Conflict veterans and Veterans Day is a time to honor all who are willing to sacrifice their lives to serve and how can you show your gratitude just some of the questions to think about going forward on Veterans Day thank you thank you so much lieutenant colonel Andres great history lesson it's one of our final presentations our history Club has been working together to find a way to show our veterans in a tangible way how thankful we are for your service several representatives from the history Club
049would like to make a presentation to you at this time I'd like to introduce Kara Adams Delaney Hobbs Ashley Messer and Chloe Robison good morning as we pause to honor all Americans who have served in our armed forces especially those who gave their last full measure of devotion to our great country words escaped us we owe them and their families the simple grace of saying thank you we wanted a tangible way to express our thanks Brown County High School junior high and Intermediate School students would like to present to you this banner additionally all the elementary schools created thank you cards please accept these gifts from Brown County Schools although these are small gifts of gratitude they represent our appreciation for your service and your sacrifice at this time we'll be moving into all of
050our favorite parts of our program this is where we will hear 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 think my lectures to be living here today cause the flag still stands for freedom and they can't take that way and I grab to be a boy and I won't forget that and God bless 'listen [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 and New York to LA father's pride in every American part and it's time we time to say and I'm proud to be free and I won't forget the men who died who
051gave that right to me and I please mix you in her still today cause there ain't no doubt [Music] that was outstanding thank you so much veterans we hope that we communicated to you today how grateful we are for your service and how much we love you I came across the prayer that seemed like a fitting way to close out our program today it's called the soldiers prayer and it's by John ich Lehman dear lord please bless our soldiers protectors of our land servants called to battle when our country takes a stand please give them strength and courage and hearts that will forgive with peace and understanding in a world for all to live our country's prayers are with them no matter where they roam please with listen when they're lonely and return them safely
052home god bless you all god bless the United States of America and at this time I would like to invite the Boy Scouts from Troop 190 up to formally retire our colors go attention got salute those are you're not gonna uniform please place your right hand Oh you may be seated boys and girls I would like to take a moment to thank all of you your behavior today has been absolutely outstanding veterans when the music begins our students will greet you and they will dismiss you by rows to the auxiliary gym where you will have your picture taken all veterans widows and your families are all invited to stay for a luncheon provided by Brown County Schools which will take place in the auxilary gymnasium thank you so much for being here today thank you
053so much for your service god bless you all [Music]