Nov 10, 2017 4 min read

WAYNESBURG – Retired Marine Col. Michael Belding noted that just a small portion of the county’s population – 1 percent, to be exact – serves in the military.

Belding, a 1981 Waynesburg Central graduate who served 27 years in the Marine Corps before retiring in 2012, addressed the district’s elementary school students Thursday morning, highlighting the service and sacrifice of veterans.

He asked adults in the audience to stand if they had served, and a few dozen did so. Then he asked families and friends of veterans or servicemen to be acknowledged, and most in the auditorium stood.

“Think of the heroes you know today and those who are here only in spirit, a person can’t help but feel awed by the enormity of what we encounter,” he said. “We stand in the midst of patriots and the family and friends of those who have nobly served.”

Belding said that behind every one of those servicemen, there are families and friends who also sacrifice, extending that impact even further.

“We know you have lived through difficult times and often taken the heavy load to keep the home fires burning,” Belding said.

But he added that it’s important for everyone to serve in some form, not just in the military, but in their communities as well. Belding, who owns a farm in Whiteley Township, suggested helping senior citizens, organizing food drives or collecting toys for underprivileged children are some of the way the young students can help.

“I have always felt it was an honor to serve my country and I continue to serve today, not in the military, but in my community, and I would encourage all of you to look for an opportunity to do the same,” Belding said. “What better way can we show how much we care than by serving others?”

This was the seventh year Waynesburg Central Elementary School students gathered around Veterans Day to thank and honor local vets for their service. The tradition originally came from a similar program at the now-closed elementary school in Perry Township, said Jill Heldreth, a kindergarten teacher who helped to organize the event.

“We kept the tradition alive because we wanted our students to be proud as Americans,” Heldreth said.

Another organizer, Nichole Trollman, a fourth-grade teacher, said the students have already answered Belding’s call as the elementary school is collecting through next week thank you cards, canned goods and small gift cards to assist veterans’ service groups.

“We want the students to understand why we do this, why we celebrate our veterans,” Trollman said of the program.

As local veterans drove up the long driveway to the school district’s campus for the ceremony, the youngest elementary school students lined up along the sidewalk waving small American flags and singing patriotic songs to welcome them. Tina Virgin, a second-grade teacher, said her class made cards for service members and collected food items for local veterans.

“We talked about how important it is to honor our veterans,” Virgin said.

The older elementary students, meanwhile, gathered in the auditorium, with each grade signing songs and several students demonstrating folding an American flag. Every student or teacher who is related to a veteran also appeared in a short video, offering each of them an opportunity to thank that family member for his or her service.

“We stagger at the eternal debt we owe to the untold number of American veterans who chose to set aside their personal ambitions and dream to assure the well-being of our great nation,” Belding said. “We, the living, are indeed the beneficiaries of those who made tremendous sacrifices for the advancement and surety of our liberty.”