PERU — Dirigo Elementary School students gave their veteran relatives and friends a special thank-you for their service Tuesday, treating them to a light breakfast catered by the Vocational Region 9 culinary arts class followed by a school assembly to honor them.

This is the second year the school has invited veterans, Principal Charles Swan said.

“Our focus is on the veterans today,” he said. “Really, (it’s all) just for them.”

During the assembly, Kristi Holmquist’s fourth-grade class performed a skit about why citizens are thankful for veterans and Tony Orlando’s music class sang a song thanking vets for their sacrifice and keeping the country safe.

Many of the veterans attending were invited to the assembly by their student relatives at Dirigo Elementary School and some students gave them a letter of thanks for their service.

At the breakfast, student Rylee Bedard was with her stepfather, Ian Gleezen. In 2004, Gleezen served in the U.S. Army in Iraq for one year. He said there were numerous times when improvised explosive devices hit vehicles he was in and destroyed them. He suffered from shrapnel in his arm and “couldn’t wait to get out,” he said.

But sometimes he wishes he would have stayed in the Army, he said. 

The reason for the Veterans Day celebration is to “thank them for serving our country,” Bedard said.

Marlin Thurston, great-grandfather of Stetson Thurston, was in the infantry during World War II in the South Pacific. Thurston said there were always people who suffered more than he did and that he saw a lot of action but doesn’t talk much about it. He said the school’s celebration makes him feel proud.

Also attending the celebration were Hugh Daley and his wife, Vawn. Daley was a crew chief and worked on F-4 fighter jets and other aircraft during his 24 years in the U.S. Air Force. His first assignment was in Europe and he traveled to England, France, Germany and North Africa.

“It was a good experience,” he said.

While Daley was stationed in Denang, Vietnam, in the 1960s, he worked on aircraft and his squadron saw a lot of air combat, he said.

“We shot the first MiG 21 and 17, a Russian jet.”

Referring to the school’s Veterans Day celebration he said, “It’s a privilege and an honor for me, that the new generation is remembering that freedom isn’t free.”

mhutchinson@sunmediagroup.net

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