Honoring Those Who Served

Area Veterans Day Programs were pushed back a few days due to last week’s winter weather. Since there was no school at both Britton-Hecla and Langford Area on Friday and the students are very involved in the programs, the events were instead held Monday.

Marshall County Veterans Service Officer Dave Daberkow acted as master of ceremonies for the Britton program while Pastor Lloyd Redhage of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Britton gave the invocation and the benediction. The VFW/American Legion Color Guard presented and retired the colors.

Retired U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Lyle Bien of Veblen, the keynote speaker, talked about the origins of the country and importance of serving in his speech on Monday. Vice Admiral Bien spent 31 years as a sailor which included 11 deployments. He logged more than 5,500 flight hours in fighter aircrafts including 1,350 carrier landings and 250 combat missions.

Bien brought up various founding fathers and talked about their contributions to the country. He also spoke about all of those who served. “When you took that oath, it makes you deserving of our recognition,” he said. “Even Retired U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Lyle Bien of Veblen gave the keynote speech during Britton’s Veterans Day program Monday.

if you were not in combat, you raised your hand and that’s important.”

Britton-Hecla Lighthouse Representatives Lily Mundt and Alexis Bolzer led the Pledge of Allegiance and the kindergarten class led the singing of the Star-Spangled Banner performed by the high school band. Fourth and fifth grade students sang “America, The Beautiful” and “My Country ‘Tis of Thee.”

In Langford, Bruce Likness, Monte Liknes, Leroy Nelson, and Gene Larson acted as the Color Guard. The National Anthem was played. Army Veteran Nathan McMurphy of Eden was the guest speaker and shared information about his time in the service and what it means to be a veteran.

The different elementary school grades also helped out with the program. The fourth and fifth offered a presentation about “Honoring Our Veterans.” The second and third grades presented the ABCs of Veterans and the poem “Veterans.” The first grade presented the Missing Man Table and the Kindergarten recited a poem of thanks to the veterans.

At the end of the program, the veterans were asked to line up so the Langford Area students could thank them as they filed out of the gym.