On Monday March 17, Kaneland High School held a patriotic assembly to give thanks to soldiers who have fallen, who are still with us and those fighting for our nation today.

The patriotic assembly featured a medal of honor recipient, an award given by the President of the United States. According to Dr. Keller, 1 percent of all soldiers who served were given the chance to meet a medal of honor recipient. This incredible honor of meeting a medal of honor recipient was bestowed upon Kaneland High School.

“We are given the opportunity to meet Sergeant Allen Lynch, who received the medal of honor for his heroic acts in Vietnam. This award is so prestigious, and holds such importance that it is bestowed upon by the President of the United States. There is a reason why it is the only medal that is hung around the neck,” Keller said prior to the assembly.

The assembly began with an opening video on some of the greatest speeches in the nation’s history, such as FDR’s speech upon entering World War II. These speeches gave an insight to the importance of the men and women that were at KHS yesterday and the importance of them serving our country.

“This is incredible, bringing in veterans and others who currently serve. The credibility these men and women receive today is greater than ever in our nation’s history,” Staff Sergeant Hawk said.

Following the video and some of the opening remarks by Principal Jill Maras came the presentation of colors by the color guard. The soldiers stood in the middle of the gym, holding up our nation’s flags.

“Its important that schools and kids recognize the examples that were set by these great individuals here today. Hopefully it gives kids people they can look up to, good American citizens who they can look forward to being,” Major Lloyd said.

The presentation of the colors was followed by the Pledge of Allegiance by retired Lieutenant Thompson, Commander of the U.S. Navy.

“Its a terrific honor to be a U.S. citizen and to serve the country. And I’m proud to be here at this event this morning,” Thompson said prior to the assembly.

The next event was the singing of the National Anthem by Jim Cornelison.

“It was great to be given the opportunity to be here today and to sing in front these veterans and students. This is a day that will always be remembered,” Blackhawks National Anthem singer Cornelison said.

Then came the introduction of the veterans that were in attendance. Purple heart recipients, active soldiers and all other veterans were called out for their heroic acts. Veterans such as Tom Dillivan, Norm Welker and Patrick Carter were included in this applause for serving in the army and for the air force.

Leslie Hill, singer for the American Chamber Opera, took the stage to sing God Bless America.

“Being here today was like a dream. To be here in front of all of these important people is something special,” Hill said.

After Hill’s performance, KHS and the veterans in attendance gave a special thanks to current KHS students who signed up to volunteer in the armed forces.

Work also being done in the community was brought to attention during the assembly. Over the past few months, the boys basketball program worked to raise money for the Wounded Service Project. The Wounded Service Project brings in money to help pay for soldiers who have physical or mental side effects after returning home from war. Kaneland was glad to announce a check of $6,325 being directly funded to the project after much hard work by the program.

Hill took the stage again to sing America the Beautiful which led to the recognition of Gold Star families of KHS alumni.

Specialist Richard Wormdahl, Specialist Edwin Turk Jr. and Sergeant Robert Domena were all given a special thanks for serving and falling for our nation before the age of 25. Former soldiers who are currently part of the KHS staff gave out flags to the families who were there to support their lost loved ones.

Bagpipe specialist Joe Byrnes took the stage and performed Amazing Grace in remembrance of those who had fallen.

Afterwards, senior and future soldier Allison Miller stood by the podium to introduce retired Lieutenant General of the army Randall Rigby.

Rigby’s message to the crowd was about the dedication each soldier has for their country and how we should give our thanks towards them.

“It’s a real honor to be here today, and to honor over 43 million who have served our country. I imagine very few of us will ever be heros like the men here today. We can’t all be heroes, someone has to stand on the sidewalk and clap. I clap for our veterans and those who currently sacrifice themselves for our nation,” Rigby said.

After Rigby’s speech came the Battle Hymn of the Republic by the KHS Choir and Band. After the performance, Sergeant Allen Lynch took the podium.

“Yet I think that before we can even think about what patriotism is, we have to get across some of things, like the american flag.  Its certainly a part of Patriotism that we say the pledge of allegiance to it and what it stands for, but thats not all patriotism is. We sing the national anthem and we put our hand over our heart but thats not all it either. We honor veterans on Veterans Day and on Memorial Day but thats still part of it, not all of it. Patriotism is something that is very unique, because to be really patriotic, u first have to be very thankful that you live here in our country,” Lynch said. “We have a real problem in our country, which is the feeling of entitlement. This feeling that we deserve all of this, that we’re all that in a bag of chips, that we’re just that good. To get all of this good stuff because we deserve it. We don’t. We don’t deserve the freedom that we have. We have it because we were born into this country and born into this place. See, you’re riding on what someone else has provided for you.This school wasn’t built by you, it was built by your taxpayers. the textbook you use was built by taxpayers, the teachers that prepare you for the world are paid off by your parents.”

The next topic addressed was our generation’s contributions to society.

The importance to knowing our rights as a citizen is crucial.

“Freedom must be kept sacred, thats why its important that you know what the constitution says, you should be studying what it says. You should know what the colors of this flag means. You should be able to recite the preamble of this constitution. You should be able to read the Declaration of Independence. A beautiful sentence, we hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator a certain unalienable Rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” Lynch said.

“I want to leave you with this. What if you had to account for your freedoms and what you do with your freedom in front of those who had to pay the price? Would you be proud?” Lynch said.