Garfield honors veterans

GARFIELD - Garfield honored veterans during an assembly on Thursday, Nov. 9 at 9:30 a.m.

Veterans, students, faculty, and community gathered in the Garfield Middle School gym to recognize and honor the veterans. Gar-Pal Middle School Language Arts teacher Phil Weagraff gave the opening, "I'd like to welcome you here today and to let you know you are the reason we're here today, and we deeply appreciate the efforts you took to serve our nation, and that has not gone unnoticed."

The elementary singers performed "Land of the Free," after which Weagraff returned to the podium to call on and recognize present veterans. The following veterans were called to stand and recognized with loud applauses:

Brett Agenbroad served in the U.S. Army from 1977 to 1992, in the 82nd airborne, and during enduring freedom.

Rusty Jamison served in the U.S. Army Reserves for 11 years from 1981 to 1982 and served during Desert Storm.

Richard Pfaff served as a pilot from 1968 to 2000 in the U.S. International Guard. Richard served flew during Desert Shield and Desert Storm.

Edgar Johnson served in the U.S. Marines from 1966 to 1972, served in Vietnam.

Eric Hanson served in the United States Air Force National Guard beginning in 2001 and is currently serving.

Virgil Hanson earned his way into being a major in the U.S. Air Force from 1975 to 1995, serving in the Persian Gulf.

Greg Holbrook served with the U.S. Army from 1966 to 1968 and was a medic during the time of Vietnam.

Hollis Jamison served in the U.S. Army from 1958 to 1965, and he served in Vietnam.

Buddy Carter served in the U.S. Army from 1971 to 1973 and he served in Vietnam.

Jim Perkins served in the U.S. Navy from 1960 to 1966, served in Vietnam.

Rod Hubner served in the U.S. Army National Guard from 1971- 1977.

William Thompson served in the U.S. Army from 1970 to 1990 and in Vietnam and Korea.

Sonia Hall served in the U.S. Navy from 2000 to 2008 as a sonar tech and served during the Iraqi freedom operation.

Justin Honcoop served in the Marines from 2005 to 2009 as a Recon three team leader, and he served in Iraq.

Harley Wicks is serving in the U.S. Air Force. Wicks began in 2006, and Wicks served in Afghanistan.

Tom Welch served in our U.S. Navy from 1988 to 1999 as a Submariner. Welch served during Desert Shield and Desert Storm.

Joe Hill served in the Air Force from 1965 to 1969 during Vietnam.

Michael Rosser served in the U.S. Marines from 2006 to 2017. Rosser served in Operation Iraqi Freedom operation, enduring freedom

Carl Suttor served in our U.S. Air Force from 1960 to 1964 and was an airman second class during the Cold War.

After the high school wind ensemble played "Armed Forces Medley," Weagraff announced honorable mentions for 6th grader Aubrey Vasser and 7th grader McKenna Kloniger for the essay contest. Third place went to Maggie Bateman, second to Lane Brown, and first place went to Rebekah Welch.

"It takes an extraordinary amount of selflessness to jeopardize your life for the hopeful possibility of freedom, and that's exactly what you, our veterans, have done for America," Welch said in her first sentence.

Guest speaker former Garfield-Palouse FFA teacher and Retired Army Sergeant Buddy Carter was next up on the podium as everyone listened to the song "All Gave Some, Some Gave All" by Billy Ray Cyrus.

"The title of my talk today, All Gave Some, Some Gave All, based on the song we just heard by Billy Ray Cyrus, and it talks a lot about patriotism and sacrifice," he said, noting that he would talk mostly about sacrifice, and how the sacrifice of servicemen has changed from the time he was in the Army until today.

Having served during Vietnam, Carter spoke about how service members of the time were heckled and called names.

He also spoke to spouses mothers, fathers, and others who all gave some; as well as first responders, police and fire.

"Those vets who are here today came home, all gave some. Our wounded and disabled vets, they gave even more, we all know someone from our units who did not come home; they gave all," Carter said, mentioning a good friend from high school, Phil, who did not come home from Vietnam. "He gave all."

Carter ended his speech by thanking the assembly coordinator, Rebecca Hemphill, for making sure it happened and mentioning services available for veterans today that weren't available during Vietnam.

"I hope my theme is one you will remember: no matter the branch, no matter the rank, no matter the time in history, our veterans deserve our thanks and respect for their sacrifice, so please remember all gave some, some gave all," he said.