Whitehall Elementary honors fallen heroes

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By Dan King

Although the weather started chilly on Thursday, it turned nice just in time for the annual Whitehall Elementary School Memorial Day ceremony.

The 42nd annual program kicked off before a large audience at 10 a.m. with elementary principal Jane O’Shea introducing Whitehall’s gold star mother, Cathy Aiken.

Following that, Jim Lafayette of the American Legion led the flag ceremony.

Maekyla Pratt and Tyler Brooks performed a drum roll as the old flag was lowered and turned over to O’Shea. Then Kylie Touchette and Riley West performed “Taps” as the new flag was raised to the top of the school’s flagpole.

Lafayette told the students about the importance of the POW/MIA flag. He compared the relevance of the flag with when a kid goes out to play and doesn’t come back, how parents would frantically look for their missing child.

“It represents American servicemen and women who are missing,” Lafayette said. “When you see that flag, remember those people.”

He referenced Harry Marshall Rehm, an Air Force veteran from Clemons, who served in World War II and then went missing in action during the Korean War.

“His mother went to the grave not knowing where he is,” added a solemn Lafayette.

After Lafayette’s appearance, Whitehall Mayor Ken Bartholomew spoke about what it means to be a veteran.

Bartholomew read an anonymous quote: “A veteran – whether active duty, retired, national guard, or reserve – is someone who, at one point in his or her life, wrote a blank check made payable to The ‘United States of America’, for an amount of ‘up to and including my life.’”

He added: “On Memorial Day, we honor those who cashed that whole check.”

Teachers Lindsey Brown and Christopher Fowler then awarded the annual Gordon Foote Memorial Award and Joe Capron Citizenship Award to students Brandon Bakerian and Emma Parker, respectively.

The American Legion then presented its annual award to member Tony Scrimo.

Event coordinator Joe Capron gave out the citizenship awards, which he said he considered a vital part of the program.

“The best way for students to honor our veterans is by being a good citizen,” Capron said.

One medal goes to a student in each teacher’s class at the elementary level.

O’Shea and Capron gave the awards to Angeline St. Clair, Jason Bisonette, Kadance Parker, Logan Lang, Rylee Jerome, Corbin Hart, Garrett Rozell, Brooke Austin, Madelyn Cigana, Jill Brown, Autumn Edmond, Makenzie Ellis, Julia Arquette, Chiara Johnson, Louis Pratt, Lake Bird, Clifford Grover, Savannah Ross, Dory Gosselin and Trinity Belden.

The final part of the program was the grade level presentations, displays put on by each grade as a way of illustrating their patriotism. O’Shea said the teachers spent weeks choreographing the routines.

The kindergarteners sang “Our Flag” and “Stars and Stripes.” First graders sang “Red, White and Blue.” Second graders sang “This is the Land of the Free.” Third graders sang “What’s More American?” complete with Uncle Sam and a number of props. Fourth graders recited the poem “Two Brothers,” a story of two brothers who fight on opposite sides during the Civil War. The Fifth graders sang “Military Medley,” finishing it with a recreation of the iconic flag-raising at Iwo Jima during World War II.

Bringing the event to a close, all six grades sang “Thank You Soldiers.”