Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
GUEST SPEAKER Mike Rydeski of Wakefield VFW Post 9084, above, delivers an address during a Tuesday tribute to veterans in the Wakefield-Marenisco K-12 School gym. Below, the second and third grade classes at W-M performs during the program.
By P.J. GLISSON
Wakefield - Students, teachers, veterans and other local citizens gathered Tuesday for what Mike Rydeski called "a thankful remembrance" in the Wakefield-Marenisco K-12 School gym.
Rydeski, a past commander of Wakefield's VFW Post 9084, was the guest speaker of the formal Veterans Day program.
"In the military, the contrast between wartime and peacetime is frequently murky," he said, adding that current service members not only are in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also in "posts known and unknown" across "all four corners" of the globe.
According to Rydeski, service members travel "far from family and friends," countering terror, keeping order, and, in general, "doing their duty unselfishly and bravely ... so we do not have to."
In addition, he said veterans must face the aftermath of working in hazardous conditions. As just one example, he said Vietnam veterans were exposed to Agent Orange, an herbicide that caused numerous health issues.
Rydeski said modern warfare also includes common use of improvised explosive devices, which cause "complex and long-lasting injuries."
He defined anyone who served his or her country as "someone who at some point wrote a blank check to the United States of America." That commitment, he claimed, included anything "up to and including" the loss of one's own life.
"Young men and women have died in wars not of their making," said Rydeski. "That is honor. May God watch over them. May God bless America."
The program included several performances by students of various ages. Second and third graders sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" and "Our Red, White and Blue." Members of the ninth grade delivered a poem, and the Junior-Senior Band played a medley of U.S. service themes, during which VFW members stood in recognition of each of their branches.
Richard Bolen acted as master of ceremonies and introduced participating service members, who said they'd served in Japan, Korea, China, Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Europe, Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia and Europe.
Bolen also asked veterans in the crowd to stand.
The program ended with a three-volley salute, the playing of "Taps," and a benediction by Mike Salli.
Originally planned for last Friday, the program was rescheduled after school was canceled then due to a snowstorm.
