Photo Gallery: O’Donnell Middle School Honors Local Veterans

Of the 19 veterans, men and women alike, who visited with eighth graders at the last week, some were drafted, others enlisted as a way to pay for college, while others saw military service as a way to travel the world.

Yet, no matter their reason for joining the military, they all served their country with distinction.

Collectively, these group of veterans spanned every branch of the Armed Forces and represented this country in every war and conflict from World War II to the present day missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Each veteran was paired with an eighth grader for an interview last Thursday morning at the OMS. Then, in what has become an annual assembly for the eighth grade, these student interviewers shared their veterans’ story with their peers.

“It’s a way for the kids to get a better understanding of the sacrifice that these men and women have made,” said OMS Assistant Principal David Guglia, who spearheaded the event.

After the OMS 8th grade band played some patriotic tunes, and the veterans marched into the cafeteria for the assembly, Guglia told the students, “I don’t know who your heroes are—maybe Tom Brady, maybe Justin Bieber—but my heroes are the men and women [the veterans] sitting before you today. They put their lives on the line for you and me.”

Hayley McManus had the chance to interview her father, Paul McManus, a retired Sergeant Major and 33-year veteran of the U.S. Army, and share his story.

“I’m proud of my father and he is my hero,” Hayley said during the assembly.

In sharing her interview with Roger Hardy of the Stoughton Police Department, Marissa Williams said Hardy told her “not to take freedom lightly. Men and women fight to protect that everyday.”

After each student had shared his or her interview, Joe DeVito, a WWII veteran who served in the Navy, addressed the eighth grade class.

“We veterans are common, everyday citizens of this country,” he said. “We saw a need and responded [when the country needed us].

Quoting another veteran, DeVito said “We did what we had to do.”

“We hope you young ladies and gentlemen do not have to go to war like we did,” he said. “But if you do, serve your country, come home, and say proudly ‘we did what we had to do.’”