NHS Assembly Captures Spirit Of Veterans’ Day

By Martha Coville

At Newtown High School’s Veterans’ Day Assembly, on Thursday, November 8, Vice Principle Scott Clayton introduced the guest speaker, Connecticut National Guard Captain Jeff Ritter, and read his credentials matter-of-factly. Some of the details of Capt Ritter’s career are routine: he enlisted into the Air Force in 1986, and later transferred to the Connecticut National Guard; along the way he attended officers’ training school, and received a bachelor’s degree in biology from Western Connecticut State University.

But Capt Ritter’s extraordinary commitment to service caught the attention of even the most disinterested students. He was only 17 when he enlisted, and therefore needed his parents’ permission. He volunteered to return to active duty after 9/11 and later volunteered for foreign deployment. He had only recently returned from Afghanistan. His simple message to the high school students was to “cherish what you have. Being away from it,” he said, “you get an appreciation for the freedoms that we have here in the United States.”

Capt Ritter’s speech and his slide show of pictures from Afghanistan were only one part of the assembly, intended to honor relatives of current Newtown High School students who are veterans. The afternoon also included a performance by the NHS band. Conducted by music teacher Kurt Eckhardt, the band played a medley of patriotic songs, including “America, the Beautiful” and “This Land is Your Land.” After a demonstration by the Connecticut National Guard, the assembly ended as students thanked the veterans for their service, and applauded those they knew personally.

In the large NHS auditorium, filled nearly to capacity, the mood changed palpably as two soldiers from the Connecticut National Guard demonstrated how to fold an American flag. As they handled the flag solemnly and reverently, the “demonstration” suddenly became a carefully performed ritual. The air in the room felt solemn, and the demonstration drew applause from the teenage audience.

Cap Ritter and his fellow Connecticut National Guardsmen “caught” what it is we cherish in veterans and celebrate on Veterans’ Day. Words like “duty” and “honor” may remain to abstractions to many civilians, but they were precisely what Cap Ritter “sought out” when he joined the armed forces a teenager. Some of the veterans in the room stood up quietly when his described experiences that resonated with them. Others stood after he ended his speech with a simple “thank you.”

At the podium in front of the stage, one NHS student listed the foreign wars fought during the 20thCentury, and veterans stood up accordingly to receive applause. Students clapped and whistled for NHS custodian Charlie Kilson, who served in the navy during the Korean war. One student called out that he was “the best janitor in the whole high school,” and the mood in auditorium changed again.

Then students elbowed past each other and regrouped into small groups as they hurried out of the assembly. The spell was broken.