Veterans and guests were greeted at the door by students who handed them a program and guided them into their seats in the gymnasium,

Wellsville Mayor Bob Boley opened the program by asking all the veterans present to stand and be recognized and asked the students and guests to give them a big hand.

Boley said there are 2.86 million U.S. military members worldwide and that the United States has the third largest Army in the world next to China and India. Based on that he is pretty sure most of the people in attendance have or have had a relative in service and he thanked the veterans for their service.

The Combined High School Choirs then performed the “Star Spangled Banner, followed by Sr. Class President Noah Board leading everyone in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

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Invocation was said by Paster Mark Blakely, Wellsville First Christian Church.

Fifth-grader Edward Wilson III did a reading of the “Land of the Free, Home of the Brave”, attributed to the U.S. Dept. Of Veterans Affairs and inscribed on the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington DC.

Music performance throughout the program includes Emerson’s “This is My Country,” performed by the second-grade music students; Cohan’s “You’re a Grand Old Flag” performed by the fifth and sixth grade choir and Jenning’s “America, My Home” performed by the Combined High School Choirs.

Nine students stood up and read letters of gratitude and appreciation which they wrote to say thank you to the veterans present. They thanked the veterans for their bravery, their sacrifices, their dedication and for leaving behind their families to put their lives on the line to serve and protect.

Guest veteran speakers included David Hull, Sgt. First Class E7, Ohio National Guard and Columbiana County Prosecutor Vito Abruzzino, US Air Force J.A.G. Corps.

Hull said he was humbled to be in attendance and he didn’t prepare a speech.

“I’m humble because of the people in front of me here who served in Vietnam, Korea, WWII — those guys served before us, and I wouldn’t have been able to serve and do what I do if it wasn’t for you guys,” Hull told the veterans. He noted that he always wanted to be a college graduate and both of his grandfathers were in the service, and he always wanted to join the military. He made the decision to join military while in college and coming across a sign that said “100% tuition, join the National Guard,” so he joined intending to only do six years, get his college money and go get his degree.

He went on to say, that didn’t go as planned, because he found himself reenlisting again and again. He reached his 10th year of service and decided he might as well go for 20 and then he reached 20 years and decided he might as well go for 30. After 30 years of service, he ended up having to have open heart surgery and was medically discharged from the National Guard in 2009.

“It has been an honor and a privilege to serve,” Hull said. “I’m thinking back on my time in service and thinking of all the brothers and sisters I knew.”

Hull recounted how he and a friend were deployed. He was supposed to have gone to Iraq and Kandahar during the Gulf War. His friend’s unit ended up going there and he was deployed to Kosovo instead. He recalled how when his friend came back, he wasn’t the same person. He went on to say how he wanted to thank his friend and everyone he served with.

He then cited a quote from an unknown author “We don’t know them all, but we owe them all.

Abruzzino addressed both the students and veterans.

He said the reason all the students and veterans were there was because Wellsville made it a priority to recognize Veterans Day and sadly there were some schools that did nothing which disappointed him.

“It is but a small token to get together for an hour before you go to lunch or whatever it is you got going on today to say thank you to those folks who made our freedoms and our way of life a reality,” Abruzzino said. “I know they this made this a priority and I hope they continue to make it a priority.”

Abruzzino then asked for a show of hands from any students who planned to into education as a teacher, intervention specialist, counselor or anything else in education. He then told those students that when they are on those positions someday that they remember to take a few moments on Veterans Day to say thank you to veterans as those who played a crucial role in our way of life.

Abruzzino then addressed the veterans and told them to take a look at the students behind them and said to them “that’s why you did it.” He told them at the time they served it may have been because they wanted to challenge themselves, or they were drafted or because one of their best buddies enlisted as was the case with him.

He emphasized that serving is a person’s legacy that will live on long after they are gone. He also told the veterans that even though it may be difficult for them, they need to share their stories.

“I’m going to implore you to in the very near future, even though it may be very difficult to talk about some of your experiences, some of the trauma that was there, some of the experiences that you would rather not think about anymore that may cause stress in your personal lives,” Abruzzino told the veterans. “We have to talk about the service, we have to tell the story of the things we’ve done, the things we’ve seen and our experiences. If we don’t, that history, that legacy dies with us. No matter how difficult, share those stories, share those experiences when asked about them. That is a great gift to give to future generations, leaders and service members.”

He told the students as they plan their futures, they need to make sure they live their best lives whatever their calling may be.

“I think any of these veterans here today including myself, will tell you, the greatest thanks to us isn’t a free lunch, not free cheese sticks at Applebee’s or whatever we may run into today or even ceremonies like this,” Abruzzino said. “What thanks us the most is living your lives to the fullest and living with purpose –because that is how we did what we did so you could go fulfill your lives and live with purpose and make your communities better places. If you do that that’s the key, that the goal, live with purpose, be of service to your fellow man. If you do those two things, you can consider yourself a life well lived.”

At the close of the program, assistant principal Kyle Exline, led a moment of silence. High school principal Allison Scott had the 16 veterans attending the program stand and introduce themselves. Duration of their service ranged from the early 1950’s up through 2009.

The veterans were then invited to join students in the media center for lunch to continue sharing a day designed for them.

The event’s program said: “We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude,” attributed to American Short Story Writer Cynthia Ozick.

It also offered a note of thanks for the veterans that read: “Today, and every day, we honor and thank our veterans, servicemen and servicewomen across all branches of the military. We are forever grateful for your duty, honor, courage and sacrifice. Thank you for protecting the freedoms we cherish.”