We would like to invite any veterans in our community to attend, in uniform if you would like. There will be an opportunity to speak with students in the classrooms for 5-10 minutes before the flag raising ceremony. Students have been learning about the significance of Veteran’s Day and are looking forward to welcoming the veterans.

If you would like to attend, or if you know of someone to whom we should send an invitation, please call Ted Scheu at 985-3331.

Veterans Day is celebrated on November 11th and honors all those who served their country in any war or conflict. Many places celebrate this day (the eleventh day of the eleventh month) by observing two minutes of silence at eleven o'clock in the morning. This is when all hostilities ceased in World War I (I 918) and the armistice was signed.

On November 11, 1918, the armistice between the Allied and Central Powers that halted the fighting in World War I was signed in Marshal Ferdinand Foch's railroad car in the Forest of Compiegne, France. In the United States, the name Armistice Day was changed to Veterans Day in 1954 to honor those who have served their country in other wars as well. In Great Britain, Canada and France, it is dedicated primarily to those who died in both World Wars. The British call it Remembrance Day or Poppy Day for the red paper flowers sold by the British Legion to benefit veterans.

The association of poppies with World War I was popularized by the poet John McCrac, who wrote the lines "In Flanders fields the poppies blow; Between the crosses, row on row." Flanders was the site of heavy fighting during the war, and for many who wrote about it later, the poppy came to symbolize both the beauty of the landscape and the blood that was shed there. Poppies are sold by veterans' organizations in most countries (click HERE for more information on the poem along with it's entire text).

An attempt in, 1971 to make Veterans Day conform to the "Monday Holiday Law" by observing it on the fourth Monday in October triggered widespread resistance, and seven years later it was moved back to the traditional November 11th date.

For additional information: 

• American War Library: Veterans Day History and Old Observance
• Korean War Veterans Mermorial ... Washington, D.C.
• National Vietnam Veterans Memorial "The Wall" ... Washington, D.C.
• Tomb of the Unknown Soldier - Arlington Cemetary, Washington, D.C.
• White House Proclamation - President William J. Clinton, 1996

• 10:00 - Veterans arrive in library
• 10:05 - Student reps from each team come to library to pick up their veteran speakers
• 10:10--10:30 - Veterans speak with teams
• 10:35 - K-2 teams proceed outside silently to bus circle
• 10:40 - 3-5 teams proceed outside silently to bus circle
• 10:45 - 6-8 teams proceed outside silently to bus circle
• 10:50 - Walter Nardelli's introduction
• 10:55 - Flag raised , Pledge of Allegiance and "America" led by Tom French
• 11:00 - One minute of silence with taps by David Myers
• 11:01 - Walter requests everyone to leave in peace Veterans proceed to library for tea - students return to their schedules

This project has been coordinated by Ted Scheu with help from Pamm Shelton and the SCS Diversity Committee (Michelle Chittenden, Cindy Shedd, Jane Perry, Amy Southworth, and Jeff Hindes).

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Home Page maintained by Greg Thweatt
gthweatt@shelburne.12.vt.us
Last updated: Oct. 13, 1997