AUBURN — With a U.S. flag in hand, third-grade teacher Bill Murray walked to the front of a Sherwood Heights Elementary School Veterans Day assembly Wednesday to show flag etiquette.

He asked students to share rules of handling the flag. Hands shot up. Murray has helped make flag etiquette part of the third-grade curriculum.

The flag is not to touch the ground, one student said.

The flag shouldn’t be up after sunset unless illuminated, another offered.

The flag should always be folded when taken down, one boy said.

Correct, Murray said, then proceeded to give a flag-folding demonstration.

The flag is folded lengthwise twice, then diagonally, starting at the bottom and working up to the stars, what’s called the union, Murray said. When correctly folded “all you should see is the union.”

Some students learn about Veterans Day through classroom lectures. Sherwood Heights students were shown the meaning of Veterans Day. They met veterans who were introduced as special guests.

The veterans were Robert Herrick, 80, who served in the Army in Korea; Keith Laser, Auburn assistant superintendent and a Navy pilot for 20 years; and Auburn police Chief Phil Crowell, who served in Desert Storm.

They also met Army Reserve soldier Robert Bussiere, 21, of Auburn, just back from Iraq; and Ryan Dillingham, 17, a Lewiston High School student who is a member of the school’s U.S. Army Cadets.

Students were asked why they were off from school Friday and what Veterans Day meant. Educator Linda Leiva said anyone who served in the military is a veteran, and the holiday is to pay homage to them.

After the Edward Little High School band played patriotic tunes, four members of Lewiston High’s Army Cadet program gave a presentation of the colors. Four boys wearing Army dress uniforms marched with somber faces to the front, placed the flag in its stand, saluted, then marched back.

Leiva called on Dillingham to explain why they marched without talking.

“We keep military bearing,” which means conducting themselves in accordance with military protocol, out of respect for the flag, Dillingham said. “We march in step, we march tall with straight, crisp steps so that we honor the flag.”

Auburn’s police chief spoke to students about his experience as an Army military police officer during Desert Storm. During his time in the Middle East, he and other MPs provided security to truck convoys.

Serving overseas is difficult, Crowell said. “You’re away from your friends, your family, everything you know.” While deployed, he received a large envelope filled with letters, drawings and thank-you notes.

“It came from Mrs. Leiva’s class. She was a kindergarten teacher at the time,” he said.

The letters gave him comfort and encouragement. “It was nice to have a little piece of home come to me,” Crowell said. “I still have those letters today. They mean a great deal to me.”

It’s everyone’s job on Veterans Day to remember those who have made sacrifices, those serving in Afghanistan and Iraq. Crowell urged students to go to a parade, a Veterans Day event and to thank a veteran.

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