Ansbach Army JROTC Battalion Honors Their Veterans

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Written by: Cdt/SGT Antonio Duran-Stanton

For the first time since the pandemic, the 9th JROTC battalion organized a Veterans Day Program; an hour of school seminar was dedicated to honoring Ansbach’s veterans. Narrated by Cdt/1SG Kenton Duplessie, the program started off with the posting of the colors,and playing of the National Anthem. The colors were presented by Cdt/MSG Lillian Daniels, Cdt/SSG Alexander Pohlman, Cdt/CPL Lily Gaspay, and Cdt/SFC Evan Slider.

After the anthem faded out and the guests took their seats, led by Cdt/CSM Yannic Miranda, the battalion marched into “Old Soldier.” The battalion stated their cadet creed,and saluted the veterans in the audience. Once the cadets took their seats, a slideshow and reading on The WWII North Platte Canteen was presented. As a tribute to volunteers, the AMHS band performed “United We Stand.”  Following the band, Cdt/Sgt Benjamin Schuck and Cdt/MSG Savanna Patterson read “A Toast to the Flag” by John Daly, a patriot and WWI veteran.

To get the audience “in the mood” cadets PFC Lauren Moseley, PV2 Ruqayyah Nichols, PV2 Hailey Tudor, PV2 Joshua Tudor, and PV2 Harley Woolever performed a swing dance routine to the “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” with Cdt/SFC Evan Slider playing the famed Bugle Boy.  The dancers then chose audience members to dance with them to “In the Mood.”

Just before the Quilts of Valor were presented, Cdt/SGT Antonio Duran-Stanton performed “This Land is Your Land” by Woody Guthrie.  Quilts of Valor were presented to two retired Army Aviators.  The first quilt was presented to Vietnam War Veteran, MAJ (Retired) Robert Hase, Director of Army Instruction for DoDEA-Europe, by Cdt/MAJ Emma Pirner, Cdt/LTC Collin Robertson, and Cdt/CSM Yannic Miranda. The second quilt was presented to Chief Warrant Officer 5 (Retired) Mark Duplessie, a Veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, by his sons, Cdt/PV2 Chance Duplessie and Cdt/1SG Kenton Duplessie. 

Next, cadetsLauren Moseley and Hailey Tudor performed “Gee, I Wish I Was Back in the Army,” a 3 minute song tribute to those who miss the military life.  After the poem “Thank a Vet” by William A. Predeau was read byCdt/PV2 Carter Haynes and Cdt/PV2 Jameson Bogard, to end the program, all the Veterans and service members came up to the front to be recognized and pinned with flowers by the cadets of the battalion. Cdt/MSG Savanna Patterson remarked, “The program taught me to really appreciate my teachers who were also former soldiers.”

            Ansbach Middle High’s JROTC battalion were grateful to all the Veterans and community members who came, and we thank all of them for their service. Army Instructor MSG (Retired) Christopher Buchanan reflected, “The battalion’s salute made this one of the best programs at Ansbach Middle High, and watching the dancers interact with the crowd was fantastic. The song played by Cadet Duran-Stanton was quite a performance as well. It went so well in fact, that the veterans came up to me afterwards to thank me for the amazing program.”