Students hear soldiers' words at Neuqua event

Whether they were killed in action or never saw a battlefield, retired Col. Paul Herbert says all soldiers have made sacrifices.

Neuqua Valley High School paid tribute to those sacrifices, large and small, Tuesday night with its "Celebration of our Nation's Heroes" honor ceremony.

"Regardless of the political reasons or results or rationale of war or conflicts, often it's that human side that was very difficult for students to comprehend, for me as a teacher to even begin to communicate," Assistant Principal Lance Fuhrer said. "So tonight I think we begin a process of reflection. Beginning to understand some of those stories."

Herbert, director of the First Division Museum at Cantigny, gave the keynote address and talked about the oath all soldiers take.

"Our soldiers … have not sworn allegiance to the president or a political party or flag or territory or the nation or the Pledge of Allegiance or any other symbol of our country," Herbert said. "Their first and foremost responsibility is to support and defend the Constitution."

To bring to life what soldiers experienced in defending that oath, students, teachers and veterans read letters written by soldiers in major U.S. conflicts since World War I from the book, "War Letters: Extraordinary Correspondence from American Wars" by Andrew Carroll. The letters spoke of missing friends and family, the dangers they faced and the pride they had in serving their country.

"Please try to embrace the true unfiltered messages that they send," teacher and Iraq veteran Derek Kaminski said. "Messages of duty, honor, personal sacrifice and appreciation for the simple things in life that we all take for granted."

As a World War II veteran, Hugh Flanders lived that experience himself and said there is no glory in war.

"Sometimes it's depicted in movies and that type of thing and there appears to be glory," he said. "But the great message in this to me is this is the work of individuals, each one working as a team determined to complete the mission that they were assigned."

To pay tribute to those who died in battle, Tuesday's guests each received red poppy flowers to place on a wreath one by one. It was just over a year ago that Army Sgt. Bradley Beste, a 2002 Neuqua graduate, was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq.

Principal Mike Popp said those serving in the military need to know they are not alone and he thanked all veterans on behalf of the school.

"We have great freedom in this country to choose a path," he said. "And your choice of serving in the military was to make sure we do not lose that very freedom."