Neuqua Valley gathering honors sacrifice of veterans and families

Deb Rickert wasn't sure if she could muster the strength to say it, but when the time came, she didn't hesitate.

"This veteran's day, for the first time I'm not only the daughter of a (World War II and Korean War) veteran, I'm the mother of one as well," she said, fighting back tears. "This is the first time I've actually spoken those words and as I thought today about what I might share with you, that realization struck me and it rather overwhelmed me."

The president of Operation Support our Troops, a Naperville-based effort to continuously gather and send nonperishable items to troops in harm's way, Rickert was the Keynote Speaker at Neuqua Valley High School's annual "Celebration of our Nation's Heroes" honors ceremony focusing on family and sacrifice.

"As (her oldest son Daniel) answered the call to his country I realized that we the families are also answering the call," Rickert said. "Perhaps even greater, because we are asked to perform the bravest and most challenging task of all, letting go of someone we hold so dear to the service of the country we all love."

2002 Neuqua Valley graduate Staff Sgt. Tony Genovese told of his father signing paperwork when he was 17, allowing Genovese to enlist early and the contrasting feelings his father felt "for putting my fate in his hands" as he later served tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Throughout my enlistment I've made several sacrifices and so has my family," he said. "I've missed seven of my Goddaughter's eight birthdays, two Christmases, three Thanksgivings, three New Years, four of my own birthdays and had to decline standing up in three friends' weddings."

Neuqua Valley's 3x3 Vocal Ensemble, Freshman Concert Winds and the WildScats each performed patriotic songs and anthems. But it was Principal Bob McBride who brought nearly everyone to tears as he encouraged guests to shout out a name of a veteran they were thinking of.

"I believe that whether living or past we can bring people here merely by saying there names. I suspect that you're in your seat this evening because there's a veteran that's on your mind that brought you here," McBride said. "If you have a name to say, just say it and bring that person here with us tonight."