On Veterans’ Day, many people take the time to mourn, and others take this time to thank those people who are helping to protect this country. On November 9, the U. City AFJROTC program hosted their 16th annual Veterans’ Day ceremony. This program utilizes the cadets and student/staff in U. City to provide pictures of military loved ones to display in honor. In addition, the program incorporated the talents of student singers and musicians.

“This program is very special to me. It allows us as a corps and a U. City family to unite and honor our Veterans of wars past and present,” said MSgt. Honeycutt, AFJROTC instructor.

The ceremony started with the color guard presenting the flags of theMissouriflight registration, the state flag, as well as the American flag. Then senior cadet Tiffany Riggins introduced senior Khalid McGhee as he sung the National Anthem.

After the singing of the National Anthem, retired Chief Master Sergeant of the United States Air Force Gary Young delivered a speech detailing his experience in the Armed Forces and how important this holiday is to him. Young mentioned how he had lost several of his service buddies, his group commander, and how painful it was and that he mourned their lost.

“This speech was very powerful and well articulated,” said senior Demetrius Clayton.

After the message of mourning and pushing past your troubles to be stronger was delivered, senior Luke Babich sung America the Beautiful.

 “This song was an excellent choice for the occasion and his voice killed it,” said Clayton.

This led to the final two stages of the program, where pictures of people in the service were displayed with their name, rank, and the relationship to the loved one who presented the photo. This part was narrated by senior cadet Cory Johnson.

“This was a captivating experience and was the best Veterans’ Day program I had been to in all my four years attending U. City High School, ” said Johnson.