In honor of those who served
Across the valley, students will pay tribute on Thursday to the military veterans who fought for the country.
Many schools have scheduled Veterans Day assemblies and informal observances on Nov. 11, several of them close to 11 a.m. as a way to mark the signing of the Armistice at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.
. At Bigfork High School, students will honor one of their own.
Matthew Saltz, Montana's first soldier to die in the Iraq war, will be memorialized through oral histories gathered from first-person interviews with his friends and family.
Junior class members working with the Montana Heritage Project will produce and show a video of Saltz's life and service, and honor his parents. His mother will be recognized as a Gold Star Mother who has lost her son in war.
In addition, veterans who still live in the Bigfork area will be honored at the assembly, planned for 11:15 a.m. Thursday in the Bigfork High School gym.
It will include oral histories drawn from interviews with five other veterans of Korea, Vietnam and Iraq wars, also conducted through the Heritage Project.
The public is invited to join the student body in the remembrance.
. Columbia Falls High School will continue a long-standing tradition with its assembly planned and carried out by the National Honor Society.
It runs from 10 to 11:15 a.m. in the high school gym, where residents of the Montana Veterans Home will be introduced as special guests.
There will be a pair of keynote speakers: George Johnson, with the Montana Submarine Veterans, and John Bartlett of Whitefish, a helicopter pilot in Vietnam who has been recognized as Montana's most decorated Vietnam veteran.
Lt. Col. Bruce A. Sneddon, a substitute teacher for District 6, will receive this year's Kerel Hagen Award, given to a school employee in recognition of honorable service.
Essay contest winners from second, third and fourth grades will read their essays on the topic, "Why Freedom is Not Free."
An honor guard from Great Falls will present the colors, bagpipers will play and "Taps" will close out the ceremony. The public is invited.
. Lakeside Elementary invites veterans and the community to its assembly at 8:45 a.m. in the Lakeside gym.
They will present the colors, join in the Pledge of Allegiance and view a Veterans Administration video featuring movie star Jennifer Love Hewitt. The school will invite participating veterans to share their name, rank and years of service.
The assembly should last about 40 minutes.
. Somers Middle School will have its own assembly at 11 a.m. in the school gym.
Organizers are planning a PowerPoint presentation on what Veterans Day is all about. Student council members will present a new flag for the school.
The public is welcome to join the sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders in the short assembly.
. Smith Valley School is planning a 9 a.m. assembly in its lower campus gym.
Students will present a selection of patriotic songs, then board member and veteran James Floyd will be the guest speaker.
Essay contest winners from each grade will read their work.
The public is invited to the hourlong assembly. People also can stay and browse at the book fair immediately following.
. Cayuse Prairie School plans a small, informal assembly at 2 p.m. Thursday.
Parents and community members who are veterans are being invited to share cake and coffee, with the general community welcome as well.
Seventh-grade and social studies teacher Jamie Miller is planning the observance. For information, call the school at 756-4560.
. Whitefish High School will have a special assembly honoring veterans at 1 p.m. in the school gym on Thursday.
Veterans from Whitefish will be recognized at the beginning of the assembly, with all veterans welcome. Two veterans will address the student body, the band will play an armed forces salute medley and the choir will sing a patriotic selection.
Organizers also are planning on one of the school's Voice of Democracy VFW essay contest winners to read her essay.
Reporter Nancy Kimball may be reached at 758-4483 or by e-mail at nkimball@dailyinterlake.com