The red and black colors for Shawano Community High School were switched to red, white and blue as its big Veterans Day ceremony on Nov. 10 included the arrival of a Blackhawk helicopter in front of the school and plenty of words about patriotism and service.
Students from the high school and nearby Shawano Community Middle School and Olga Brener Intermediate School lined the sidewalks and watched as the Blackhawk brought the three main military speakers who spoke later in the ceremony.
Brig. Gen. Brion Aderman with the Wisconsin Army National Guard oversees more than 7,000 citizen soldiers from the state and spoke about how the military is more than just an institution designed to protect the United States, but it’s also creating the leaders that many see out in the community.
“Veterans Day isn’t just about parades and sales. It’s about an institution,” Aderman said. “There’s about 65% of Americans that don’t serve. In Wisconsin, that’s about 271,000 of our neighbors who serve. Yet that small group shows up in leadership, in public service and in the quiet work of holding communities together. Veterans don’t stop working when they take off the uniform.”
About 90% of human resources professionals claim that veterans work better in jobs than non-veterans, according to Aderman, and they’re twice as likely to take up roles in public service.
“They’re your police officers, your firefighters, your nurses and your teachers,” Aderman said. “Veterans build things. They’re 45% more likely to be self-employed. There are 2 million veteran-owned businesses who employ millions of Americans.”
Veterans started more than half of the businesses in the United States since World War II, Aderman noted. Among them are Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart; Fred Smith, who started FedEx; and Phil Knight, the founder of Nike.
Veterans are more likely to be deciding factors in local elections, Aderman said.
“This is the part that doesn’t make headlines — veterans vote more, with 72% in the last election compared with 66% of everyone else,” he said. “Veterans volunteer more, about 93 hours per year compared with 69, which comes up to about a half a billion hours of service.”
Aderman stressed to the students and community members in attendance that it’s important to remember that veterans are among them.
“It’s in your town, it’s in your gym, and it’s probably sitting next to you right now,” he said. “When you walk out of here today, don’t think of us veterans as people from another era. Think of them as your neighbors, your teachers, your coaches, the person who fixes your car. You have an institution where, when something gets hard, somebody still shows up.”
The message of service also came through in the younger generation. SCHS student Caiden Cappaert spoke to the audience about how he learned about the military values created within his own family through his 97-year-old great-grandfather, who served in the U.S. Air Force and lives in Stephenson, Michigan.
“He told me about how he started his time in the Air Force in 1946, how he became part of the military police, how he learned how to do sheet welding and then began working on B-36 bombers,” Cappaert said, noting his great-grandfather ended his military career as a master sergeant. “Hearing my great-grandfather talk about his time in the service made me realize something. History is not decided by just things generals said throughout my history class. It is made by the people like my grandpa, who learned a trade or skill and did everything they could to keep us free and safe.”
Cappaert recounted the armistice that ended World War I in 1918, which created the holiday that eventually focused on veterans and shows the heroism tied to them.
“It’s a reminder of how much America has had an impact on the world,” Cappaert said. “It is because of those brave men and women that we enjoy the freedoms we have today.”
People continued to follow the call to serve, Cappaert said, whether it was in the jungles of Vietnam, serving during the Cold War, traveling to the Persian Gulf in the 1990s or stepping up after 9/11 to serve in Afghanistan and Iraq.
“So what is the best way to honor our veterans?” Cappaert said. “It starts with small stuff. Talk to them. Ask about their service. Open doors. It’s because of these brave men and women that we can voice our opinions, that we can go to whatever church, temple or mosque that we wish. They’re the reason we can choose whether we go to college, the trades, the military or whatever career we want to go in.”
Chief Warrant Officer 5 Mike Tomblin with the National Guard got his share of ribbing for mispronouncing “Shawano,” but his message to students got plenty of applause as he talked about veterans and their communities.
“When crisis strikes here at home, whether it’s the polar vortex coming down to freeze us, spring flooding along our river or times of civil need, the Guard answers the call of our governor and our fellow citizens,” Tomblin said. “We are always ready, always there, because the communities we protect aren’t just distant map coordinates in some desert. They are also our hometowns, our families and communities, just like Shawano.”
lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com
Shawano School District Superintendent Kurt Krizan, left, stands in the background and talks prior to the Veterans Day ceremony Nov. 10 with Wisconsin Army National Guard Command Sgt. Maj. Duane Weyer, center, and Chief Warrant Officer 5 Mike Tomblin. In the foreground, Brig. Gen. Brion Aderman converses with Shawano Community High School band teacher Christopher Kent, who serves as a sergeant with the Wisconsin Army National Guard band. (Lee Pulaski | NEW Media)
Plenty of community members stand proudly with their hands over their hearts as they listen to the Shawano Community High School band and choir perform the national anthem on Nov. 10 for the SCHS Veterans Day ceremony. (Lee Pulaski | NEW Media)
