DELAWARE — Buckeye Valley Middle schoolers have honored veterans with an annual assembly for the past 15 years.
Army Veteran Tina Francis teaches a career readiness class, which is a satellite program offered by the Delaware Area Career Center, and she created the now 15-year-strong tradition.
“[We were] not doing anything, not even a speech and I was like, we need to do better. So I said I’m going to do this, and here we are 15 years later, it’s the biggest it’s ever been,” Francis said.
This year’s Monday assembly honored 125 veterans in the audience with the various choir groups performing “The Star Spangled Banner,” “Thank You Soldiers,” “A Patriotic Festival,” “The Armed Forces Medley,” and the band performing “So Proudly We Hail” and “Taps.”
The Delaware County Air Force junior ROTC cadets presented the Color Guard and several students led the Pledge of Allegiance.
Sergeant Stephen Bright from the Army and Air Force also led students through the remembrance table, which honors soldiers who never came home.
“It’s changed because we used to have a lot more World War II and Korean War veterans and even Vietnam War veterans. We still have some, but that’s been kind of sad,” Francis said.
Despite how it’s changed over the years, the purpose remains the same: to honor the people who have served in the U.S. military.
Two key speakers from the U.S. Air Force
This year’s assembly speakers were Air Force Major Alex Bilchak and Air Force Senior Master Sergeant Michael Flaata.
Bilchak is a medical service corps officer currently serving as a traditional reservist assigned to The Theater Patient Movement Requirements Center of the Americans under the United States Transportation Command at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois.
He began his military career in 2010, earned his commission in 2014 and has since completed overseas appointments, supporting operations in Germany, Afghanistan and Qatar, which earned him several medals.
Bilchak also serves as Chief of Staff for the Ohio Auditor of the State.
Flaata enlisted in 2002 and currently serves as a traditional reservist as an aeromedical evacuation technician with the 445th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton.
He supported operations in Kuwait, Jordan, Afghanistan, Germany and Qatar and has also earned several medals.
In his civilian capacity, Flaata is a registered nurse at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.
“There are good things and there are bad things, but when we look back at our time in uniform, what really made it impactful were the people with whom you served,” Bilchak told the students.
“You will see people who live a very different life than you live, and you will be better for it.”
Bilchak also said his service was to protect America and the people who call it home, but you don’t have to be a veteran or active-duty military personnel to service your local communities.
He emphasized that service is the cost for living in a community, that doing things for people besides yourself makes a community stronger.
“America has given you the freedom to dream,” he said. “It is now your responsibility to live out those dreams, and make America a better place.”
Students interview veterans after the assembly
After the assembly concluded, several veterans made their way to the school’s library to enjoy a complimentary lunch while talking to Francis’ students.
The students spoke to the veterans and asked them a series of questions about why they joined the military, where they served after basic training, how they stayed in touch with family, how many friends they made through service and more.
Larry Crile, an 80-year-old Vietnam War veteran, told two students about his experience being a paratrooper for the Army during that time. He said he jumped out of a plan 63 times.
Crile explained he helped build a military camp in the jungle and he was responsible for protecting it.
One of the students asked him about the friends he made while serving, and Crile pointed to another Vietnam War veteran standing across the room.
The two were among the first students to play on Buckeye Valley’s football team in 1964.
“We weren’t in the same unit, but then when we came back, we did a lot of things together. He’s a very good friend and in the war. You become real close friends with the guys you’re with,” Crile said.
Crile has attended the assembly since its inception 15 years ago. He said when he attended Buckeye Valley in the 60s, there was a veterans assembly, but it was more oriented to the whole local community, not just students.
He said he’s glad to see Buckeye Valley is still as veteran-oriented as it was when he attended.
Chris Shuler, a recently-retired veteran coming off of 20 years of service in the Air Force, attended the assembly for the first time.
Shuler said he thought it was a good representation of the camaraderie that is important to veterans, and he felt Bilchak’s speech summed up how being in the military can be rewarding and change your life for the better.
