While Veterans Day is celebrated every year, for many people, it has turned into just another day. Oftentimes, it seems that people forget why it exists. Veterans Day started as Armistice Day on November 11th, 1919. Armistice day was a holiday celebrating the end of World War I. It wasn’t until 1947 that the term “Veterans Day” was used, and in 1954, the name officially changed. Today, people tend to think of Veterans Day as a day to celebrate those who died in battle, but it’s also about listening to the stories of those who survived.

“I was in a fighter outfit,” said veteran Don Olds. “We were stationed up in Sioux City, Iowa. One day we got this notice; the whole squadron was going overseas, the planes, the pilots, everybody. I was the radar technician. They said we were either going to Spain, Holland, or England, so when it came time to pack up, and we were getting ready to go, they said we were going to England.”

Olds has been attending the Rolla Public Schools Veterans Day program for years. He enjoys how respectful, and willing to listen, students are, as well as the ability to socialize. Veteran Katharine Hutchings also enjoys attending the program.

“I graduated from high school in 2004, and then went in [to the military] right after,” said Hutchings.

Hutchings was a combat medic in Afghanistan. Combat Medics are the military equivalent of first responders. They are on the battlefield during combat, stitching up wounds, and trying to treat the most serious injuries before it’s too late.

“My dad was in [the military], so I felt like it was what I needed to do,” said Hutchings. “My whole family was military.”

That’s how it is for a lot of people. They join the military because their parents and grandparents were also members. There are other reasons people join the military too.

“My catalyst in joining the military was being part of a generation who graduated high school only to watch the world change, and the Twin Towers fall down, a few months later,” said guest speaker Shane Pitts.

Pitts was part of a sniper team in the 10th Mountain Division. He traveled all across the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.

“I’m proud to have had the opportunity to serve my country,” said Pitts.

And many veterans are, they risk their life and limb in the pursuit of our freedom. They have to train hard to make it.

“When you become a marine, you don’t walk onto MCRD [Marine Corps Recruit Depot] San Diego and become a marine, you earn the title marine… And I’ve earned that title by being told I couldn’t make it,” said Mark Twain Elementary School principal and veteran Matt Fridley. “On November 10th, 1988, I was told that [I] would never be a marine by Staff Sergeant Wagner. I remember to this day, he said, ‘you won’t make it,’ and he took me out to the sandbox and he said… ‘I’m gonna wear you out, and you’re not gonna be a marine; you don’t deserve it.’ Don’t ever tell me I can’t do something, because guess what? He was wrong, I claimed the title marine.”

All the more reason to celebrate the men and women, like Fridley, who have earned their titles.

  “…It has been stated that a nation that does not honor its’ heroes, will not volunteer,” said Pitts. “Those words never ring more true than on a day like [Veterans Day].”