LIVERMORE FALLS — Fourth-graders were asked Tuesday to go home and thank a veteran for their service to the country.
The assignment for the Livermore Elementary School students came after an educational session about veterans and Veterans Day.
Several veterans turned out for the lesson at the Post 10 American Legion Hall. Veterans also held a session for fourth-graders from the Jay Elementary School on Monday.
American Legion Adjutant Don Simoneau conducted the program, explaining the respect paid to flags.
People in uniform salute the flag, those in civilian clothes put their left hand at their side and their right hand over their heart, he said.
The room filled with the steady beat of veterans’ feet as they marched down the side of the room, two veterans in the middle carried the national and state flags, flanked by two veterans with rifles.
The Veterans of Foreign Wars Honor Guard stopped in front of students and turned to face them.
Honor Guard member Don LeSuer asked fourth-graders to join in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.
The American Legion has been putting on the Veterans Day education program for 14 years, Simoneau said.
He asked who is a veteran.
Several students raised their hands.
It is someone who served or is serving in the military, some students said. It is also someone who protects the freedoms that Americans have, such as freedom of speech and freedom to be who you want to be, some answered.
A video about Veterans Day and what it means was played. Children learned about veterans through the eyes of a young girl named Lizzie and her grandfather. She learned that Veterans Day is more than a day off from school.
In the video, students also got to hear stories from veterans who served in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. They also learned from Diane Carlson Evans, a former Army nurse who served in Vietnam. She spearheaded the effort to create a Vietnam Women’s Memorial in Washington, D.C., for the women who served and took care of wounded and dying soldiers. They also had a chance to listen to a man who earned a Congressional Medal of Honor at age 21, which was presented to him by President Harry S. Truman.
Simoneau gave the students a quiz about what they learned once the video was over. They answered his questions before he gave them the assignment to thank a veteran between Tuesday and Friday, Nov. 11, Veterans Day.
“Say thank you to a veteran for their service to our country for the freedom we have in this country,” Simoneau said.
dperry@sunjournal.com
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- American Legion Post 10 Adjutant Don Simoneau, left, teaches fourth-graders from Livermore Elementary School about veterans on Tuesday at the Legion Hall in Livermore Falls.
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- Francis “Red” Therrien, a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Honor Guard in Jay, presented the colors with other members Don LeSuer, back, and Wally Tripp and Roland Therrien, not shown, during a veterans education program for fourth-graders Tuesday at the American Legion.
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