Students celebrate flag day

By Joshua Bassett

Students and citizens gathered at Granville Elementary School and Mary J. Tanner School to celebrate Flag Day and sing songs and talk about the meaning of the flag.

The events at both schools were led by music teacher Brent Tuttle.

Students spoke at the ceremonies, giving the audience a little history about the flag and the meaning of it, while performing well-known American songs.

The students sang “Star-Spangled Banner,” “You’re a Grand Old Flag,” “Three Cheers for the Red, White, and Blue!,” “This Land Is Your Land,” and other songs before ending with “God Bless America.”

“For more than 200 years, the American flag has been a symbol of our strength and unity,” said two of the fourth-graders at the ceremony.

Another student said that the 13 stripes on the flag represent the original 13 colonies and the 50 stars represent each state, along what the three colors of the flag mean.

“I want to thank all the students for getting up here,” Tuttle said. “It’s not easy to get up here in front of your friends.”

Before the last song, one student recited the preamble to the Constitution and was asked by Tuttle what certain words meant. Tuttle thanked the student for his participation.

“It’s awe-inspiring,” said VFW post 1653 commander Butch Hurlburt. “It’s amazing how talented some of these little people are.”

Hurlburt mentioned a few times throughout that the students at the school are the future and that people should also remember the past, such as those who lost their lives serving the country.

“There’s a whole lot of other things we have to think about,” Hurlburt said. “There’s a lot of people that have come before us.”

One veteran Hurlburt singled out at the ceremony was Ron Daigle.

Daigle said he served in the Navy reserves for 17 years and did four tours of duty when he was activated, including going to Afghanistan.

He said that he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis after being exposed to certain nerve gasses while serving.

“I’ve had it for four years now, I’ve had days I can’t walk,” said Daigle.

Daigle said it was diagnosed while he was in the military and that five other guys in his unit were diagnosed with MS as well. He said he goes for treatment once a month.

Daigle said he would do it all over again and enjoyed the rush of adrenaline you get when serving in the military.

“You can addicted to the adrenaline,” Daigle said.

Hurlburt told everyone that he would gladly talk to their friends, family or relatives who served in the military and might need help.

“Whatever they have, we can figure out how to handle it,” Hurlburt said.

Hurlburt said people can call him at 518-642-3276 or 518-361-0185.

“It’s so important people understand what veterans are going through,” he said.