HAPPY VETERANS DAY

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom

THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND  — First-graders sing “This Land is Your Land” during the Nov. 6 Veterans Day ceremony at the Milo Elementary School.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom

ESSAYISTS — Fourth-graders Michelle Saunders, pictured with Principal Julie Royal looking on, and Ashton Ade both presented essays they wrote for the annual Veterans Day ceremony at Milo Elementary on Nov. 6. Students in grades 4 and 5 combined their social studies lessons with reading and writing to compose veterans-related essays.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom

AT THE PODIUM — Milo Elementary fifth-grader Emily Trask reads an essay during the school’s Veterans Day ceremony last Friday.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom

WHAT THE DAY MEANS TO HIM — Fifth-grader Daegan Ames was one of several students to ready an essay on Veterans Day during the annual ceremony at the Milo Elementary School to honor those who served.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom

OOH RAH!— Milo Elementary grade 4 students sang the “Marine Hymn” and presented a poem to those in attendance on Nov. 6.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom

A  SALUTE FROM THE YOUNGEST STUDENTS — Milo Elementary kindergarteners sing “Red, White and Blue” and “Grand Old Flag” during the annual ceremony honoring veterans.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom

A THANK YOU TO THOSE WHO SERVED — Fifth-graders at Milo Elementary give a thank you to all veterans at the conclusion of their performance during the school’s annual Veterans Day ceremony on the morning of Nov. 6. During her opening remarks, Principal Julie Royal said the presentation is a tradition at the school and a way for students to give back to the community. The ceremony included the posting and retiring of colors by Milo American Legion Post 41, as well as having all veterans in attendance stand to be recognized.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom

A MUSICAL TRIBUTE — The band at Milo Elementary performs during the school’s 2015 Veterans Day ceremony last week.

Veterans’ poem

Lines of shelters – row on row

And lights of airfields just below.

Towering mountains rising high

Reaching out to kiss the sky.

Soldiers marching – file on file

Cursing at each weary mile.

Eyes turned red from desert sun

Glancing homeward – one by one.

The sky a single sea of blue

The hills a corps of brilliant hue.

And bombers leaving through the air

Water rationed – scarce and rare.

Days of work – end on end

Letters they hope their friends will send

Wishing for a sweetheart’s kiss.

So many miles from here at Bliss.

Soldiers marching – side by side

Heads held high with new felt pride.

Banners flying in the air

Men will die – to keep them there.

Men forgetting after hours

Laughing, singing, taking showers.

Hoping for a moment’s rest

Proud because they stood the test.

Huts are darkened – light by light

And men in cots to rest at night.

Forgetting now the miles they roam

Thinking of the folks at home.

In the years – by and by

The past remembered with a sigh.

Men grown old will dream of this

And wish again for days at Bliss.

Raymond H. Bishop

Written to his mother, Ethel Thurston

from Fort Bliss in 1949

Observer file photos/Jeannette Hughes

THREE RIVERS KIWANIS HONORS THOSE WHO SERVED — The Three Rivers Kiwanis of Milo/Brownville will once again honor local veterans and families with a roast turkey dinner on Wednesday, Nov. 11 at the Milo Town Hall. The meal is served at noon, with doors opening at 11 a.m. American Legion Post 41 will present a POW/MIA ceremony at 11:45 a.m.

Contributed photo

HIGH SCHOOL ALUM — U.S. Senator Susan Collins recently welcomed fellow Caribou High School alum, Marilla Giberson Cushman, Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army (retired), to her Washington office. Marilla Cushman is one of the members of the senior leadership team for the Women in the Military Service for America Memorial Foundation. The foundation was established in 1985 as a private/public partnership to honor all women who served in or with the U.S. Armed Forces. Their mission is to educate the public about the achievements and contributions of military women and to operate and maintain the memorial foundation.