Veterans Day is a day to honor those who have fought for our country and served in one of the five branches of our military. On November 12, TBS held a ceremony to honor those who have exemplified bravery and fought for our America.

“Our veterans are probably the most important thing in our history and [our] present,” said eighth grade history teacher Mrs. Anne Franzen. “Without people willing to fight for this country, we wouldn’t have a country.”

Not only do teachers recognize that, but so do the students.

“It’s important for remembering all those lives that were lost during time of great war and pain,” said sixth grade student Kenny Tepper.

“We are blessed to be one of the only countries that has [so many] freedom[s] because of our soldiers,” said eighth grader Jasper Wright.

There were several veterans at the lower/middle school campus ceremony, which was held on Kennerly Field.

“The veterans [at the ceremony] were inspiring, and it is important for them to know [that] we are grateful [for them],” said eighth-grade student Anthony Pace.

Former History Department Chair Mr. Marshall Mullnix, who is now retired, would prepare and emcee the Veterans Day ceremony at TBS. With his absence, Head of Middle School Mr. Charles Hagy presided over this year’s ceremony. Even with the success of the Veterans Day ceremony, Hagy admits he had big shoes to fill.

“You can never replace Mr. Mullnix,” said Hagy.

The Benjamin School puts a big emphasis on Veterans Day because of the values the School wants to impart to its students.

“Citizenship is so vitally important to the preservation of our way of life,” said Hagy. “Next to freedom and justice in importance is the education of our kids, but without the education of our kids, neither freedom nor justice can exist.”

In the ceremony, the Middle School Performance Ensemble and Honor Band performed a couple of  patriotic pieces, including the “Armed Forces March” and the Middle School Chorus sang “God Bless America” (which the bang also played in) and “You Are Our Heroes.”

“Playing in front of your friends and whole School was somewhat weird,” said eighth-grade student Aditya Jasti, a saxophonist in the Middle School Performance Ensemble.

Despite being weird for Jasti, he admits he did enjoy playing in the ceremony.

“I did [enjoy playing on Veterans Day] because you get to play and honor those who have died and fought for us,” he said.

The Middle School’s music instructors were proud of their students’ performances, especially Choral Director Mr. Andrew Winters.

“The chorus did extremely well,” he said. “[They are] a good sounding group, [and] they sing right on key.”

This year, for the first time in the school’s history, Franzen put The Missing Man Table outside of her room. This table represents and remembers all of those veterans who did not make it home, and is meant as a symbol of honor and remembrance. Franzen did so at the request of someone special to TBS.

“Mr. Mullnix asked if I would do it for him [to honor those who died in service],” she said. Franzen wanted to do the Missing Man Table last year and the year before, but she never got to it. This year, she made good on her promise.

The table, like the ceremony itself, was a touching tribute to our heroes, past and present, who protect the lives and liberties of this great nation.