This is the final announcement of the upcoming Veteran’s Day Ceremony on Tuesday November 11. The celebration will be held at the Strom Thurmond High School Football Stadium. Veterans are to park behind the stadium and rendezvous in the field house located behind the goalpost from 0900 to 0920 hrs. At 0920, fall in and march, at a route step, to the seating area at the opposite end of the field. Veterans in wheel chairs or that need assistance will be helped by NJROTC cadets. The ceremony will begin at 0930, after all the veterans are seated; then come to attention during the presentation of the colors by STHS Navy Junior ROTC unit color guard. Master of Ceremonies will be Mrs. Jane Jenkins Herlong. Our guest speaker will be retired fighter pilot Jett Jernigan who led the initial allied attack in Iraq during Operation Desert Storm.

V.A. representatives Alan Parano and Ronnie Gordon will be stationed in the field house after the ceremony to answer questions and assist veterans with their concerns.

I am asking for all friends and relatives of a veteran to bring him or her to the ceremony so that we can honor them and show our gratitude for their service to our great nation. After all, if it were not for our veterans, “we, the people” would not have the freedom and liberties that we enjoy. It wasn’t for the veterans we would probably be speaking Chinese.

Finally, this celebration is open to the public, whom we serve! I urge everyone to come to the celebration and show your support for the troops. “Please join us!”

First Sergeant Mario B. Luna
USMC (never retired)