The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

WAITSBURG - Waits­burg High School and Pres­ton Hall students honored local veterans, past and pres­ent, in an intimate celebration in the school auditorium last Friday.

As guests entered the au­ditorium, the students were quiet and respectful. Teacher Roseann Groom had col­lected photos of local veter­ans and those photos were on display in a slideshow on a large television on the stage.

Band Director Brad Green motioned to the pho­tos and told the students "These people flashing on the screen are just like you and me, but they had to go to war, sometimes just right out of high school."

A handful of veterans marched the flags in to begin the celebration and Army, Navy and Air Force veterans who were present were hon­ored with music by the Waits­burg High School Band. The celebration wouldn't have been complete without resi­dent and Navy veteran Jack McCaw pumping his fist into the air and yelling "Go Navy!"

Students took turns at the podium providing informa­tion about the meaning of Veterans Day and its evolve­ment into a national holiday. They also presented informa­tion on Arlington National Cemetery and the unknown soldiers buried there.

Following a brief history, students also presented in­formation on veterans who are family members of the Waitsburg School District staff and students.

"Today, we honor the veterans of Waitsburg and our school family," student Krystal Harris said.

The band played more tra­ditional military-style music as the program continued its theme "Remembering Our Past, Honoring Our Present."

The Class of 2013 sings "America the Beautiful" last Friday during the Veterans Day Assembly at Waitsburg High School.

Short biographies were read of three local veterans who had passed away during the year: Elmer Hays, Bill Davis and Neil Witt.

The Class of 2013 fol­lowed that presentation by singing "America the Beauti­ful" a capella.

Next, there was a slide­show and information pro­vided about recent Waitsburg High School graduates who are serving today in the mili­tary. Those are: Zac Alexen­ko, class of 2010, Navy Re­serve, Morgan Baker, class of 2009, U.S. Marine Corps, Blake Brown, class of 2010, U.S. Air Force, Jeff Hofer, 2009, U.S. Army, Timothy Hofer, class of 2011, U.S. Air Force, Ryan Mason, class of 2009, U.S. Air Force, and Wyatt Withers, class of 2010, U.S. Air Force.

To close the celebration, all those in attendance sang "God Bless America" and the special veterans and guests of honor were ushered out of the auditorium.