Veterans saluted at Gilpin County School
by Patty Unruh
It’s imperative that we not forget the many sacrifices made by our service men and women, living and dead, active duty and veterans. Accordingly, students, staff, community members, and active duty military personnel honored Gilpin County’s veterans with a tribute on Thursday morning, November 8, in the school’s auxiliary gym. It was a day not only to thank the veterans for their sacrifice and service, but also to mark the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I.
The event is a long-standing tradition in our community and contained many well-loved, familiar elements. The middle school band began with patriotic music. Everyone rose respectfully as Abraham Lincoln High School Junior ROTC presented the colors. Girl Scout Troop 4565 and Cub Scout Pack 251 led in the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by the middle school/high school choir singing the National Anthem. Sgt. 1st Class Jose M. Caraballo (Ret.) placed the POW/MIA flag, as he has done for the past several years. Senior Will Lorenz served as master of ceremonies and ensured that the program ran smoothly. The fifth graders belted out the perennial favorite, “Fifty Nifty United States,” with audience members chiming in. Other musical selections were “Sacrifices Made,” sung by the elementary students, and “Thank You, Soldiers/Celebrate America,” performed by the middle school/high school choir.
Superintendent David MacKenzie welcomed the audience. During his address, the audience learned about Stars for Cars, founded by New Rochelle, New York student Jake Gallin in 2011. The boy was eight years old at the time. He had heard about “Gold Star” and “Blue Star” military families and learned that a Blue Star signifies that there is a family member who is serving in the Armed Forces and that a Gold Star signifies that a loved one has died while serving our nation. Gallin decided to design a star-shaped magnetic car decal in hopes of raising awareness of these military families in his community. His hope was that people who saw the decals might ask their meaning and want to learn more about what they could do to acknowledge the sacrifices made. All proceeds from the sale of the decals go to support military families through the programs of the United Service Organization (USO).
Now, Gallin is a tenth-grader at New Rochelle High School. He urged schools across the nation to read the following announcement during Veterans Day ceremonies. Accordingly, MacKenzie did so. “We take this time to remember our Blue Star and Gold Star military families and thank them for their sacrifice and generosity. We want them to know that they are a part of our community.”
The Gilpin High School cheerleaders led in a remembrance of World War I, handing out small artificial poppies to be pinned onto jackets, shirts, and sweaters. They gave a brief summary of Armistice Day and closed with John McCrae’s war poem, “In Flanders Fields,” written in May 1915. McCrae was inspired to write the poem in remembrance of a friend and fellow soldier who died in the Second Battle of Ypres. Its references to the red poppies that grew over the graves of fallen soldiers resulted in the remembrance poppy becoming one of the world’s most recognized memorial symbols for soldiers who have died in conflict.
Armistice Day was changed to Veterans Day in 1954. It is commemorated every year on November 11 to mark the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front of World War I. The armistice took effect at eleven o’clock in the morning – the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918.
Active duty guests Sgt. Joshua Maloy, USMC, and Staff Sgt. Harlen Ruiz, US Army, spoke briefly about what serving in the military meant to them. Ruiz greeted the assembly in the Navajo tongue and explained that some service members known as “code talkers” used their knowledge of Native American languages during the world wars as a basis to transmit coded messages.
A group of about 30 veterans and spouses shared their military experiences. As the microphone was passed around among them, the vets introduced themselves, stated in what branch of the military they had served, and where they had been stationed. The men and women were from every branch of the military from the 1950’s onward, from Korea to Viet Nam, Germany, France, Afghanistan, and points of the United States. All were proud to have served, and several expressed gratitude for the remembrance at the school.
“Thank you for what you do in this building,” noted veteran Jack Hidahl. “The more educated you become, the stronger our nation becomes.”
Teo Dominguez, Gilpin’s American Legion Commander, remarked, “We stand for the flag and kneel for the dead.”
The veterans’ comments were followed by a moment of silence to remember the fallen, and the solemn antiphonal playing of taps by student trumpeters Sasha Sonsino, Cheyanne Fejarang, and Zachariah Gebhart.
Michelle Mallin, executive director and co-founder of the non-profit Honor Bell Foundation, presented the story of the stationary bell that was cast in 2016 to give full military honors to service members at their passing. Due to inadequate funds and personnel, many deceased veterans are buried with only minimal military honors. The Honor Bell Foundation seeks to remedy this sad situation by ringing an honor bell in tribute for departed veterans.
The Foundation commissioned the 1,000-pound stationary bell, which was forged from bronze at a foundry in Cincinnati. Military artifacts from 12 deceased Colorado veterans were placed in the molten metal when the bell was being forged. The Honor Bell was dedicated into service at Fort Logan National Cemetery in May 2016. Veterans now volunteer their time to toll the bell.
Plans are being made to bring the bell to Gilpin County at some point in the future. Emcee Lorenz advised that the Gilpin County VFW and American Legion groups were each donating $125 to The Honor Bell Foundation to help cover the cost to bring the bell to Gilpin.
The keynote speaker was Sgt. Elizabeth Two Bulls, USMC. Two Bulls gave her true definition of a veteran: a person who has served in the military, whether for four years or 20 years, sacrificing to protect and defend our Constitutional rights.
Two Bulls had not originally intended to be part of the military. The child of an immigrant mother, she thought she wasn’t strong enough for such a career and felt that a college education was the way to success. She worked hard to get scholarships and studied business, but didn’t have a sense of purpose in her studies. After 9/11, she joined the Marines.
“The Marine Corps helped me be who I am today,” she said. “I’ve traveled, trained, and blown up all sorts of cool things! There is a real sense of community – we gain a true sense of belonging and brotherhood in the military.”
She passed along some advice to the students: there is no limit to what you can do if you break free of others’ expectations of you, and let your light shine and advocate for yourself. Two Bulls concluded by challenging young people to pass the torch of freedom on which our country was founded and keep the memory of our veterans alive.
The veterans were honored with a reception following the program. Teacher Su Henry, sponsor of the Gilpin High School Class of 2020, coordinated the ceremony and the reception, and the Gilpin Booster Club provided decorations and helped serve.