Young, old and many in between were among the couple hundred veterans, students and community members who celebrated Veterans Day with “A Salute to our Veterans” at Saint Mark’s High School.
Veterans shared their call to patriotism, students honored those who made the sacrifice to serve their country and remembered those who have been lost, including Saint Mark’s graduate Stephen McGowan.
The morning event in the school gymnasium Nov. 11 included breakfast, posting of the colors, Pledge of Allegiance, music by the Saint Mark’s band and choir, acknowledgement of students who are Cpl. McGowan Fund recipients, and gold and blue star families.
It was a coming together of people who know the stories and those who appreciate hearing memories of them.
“One of the hardest things to manage is the emotions of failure and success,” said Saint Mark’s grad and veteran Bryan Panaccione, the keynote speaker.
“Believe that you can succeed and that you can handle failure,” he told students. “That’s the kind of confidence you should all have. Many people will end up doing things they never imagine.
“I’m really happy with how it turned out,” he said “What it means to honor veterans is to recognize what is meaningful. What really manners is honor … and legacy … and who you choose to uplift, which should be everyone.”
Harold Chalfant, a longtime Newport resident and St. Matthew’s parishioner, was celebrating Veterans Day as a U.S. Air Force veteran of the conflict in Korea. He also celebrated his 95th birthday the same day and was presented with a birthday cupcake and balloon from people at Saint Mark’s.
“It’s very nice that they do this,” he said of the veterans observance, adding that it’s worthwhile to encourage students to understand what they have. “Young people are a little more fickle today than they used to be.”
He said he especially enjoyed the color guard at the event.
“It almost makes you want to cry,” Chalfant said.
His daughter, Andie Chalfant, a Saint Mark’s graduate, accompanied her dad to the veterans event.
Two other veterans at the breakfast also expressed interest in sharing their values with the students.
American Legion official Chris Albanese, a Saint Mark’s graduate, was making his first visit to the event and was joined by his uncle, fellow veteran Larry Albanese, a St. John the Beloved parishioner. Larry sent three kids through Saint Mark’s.
“What they do here at Saint Mark’s, it’s nice,” said Larry.
“As a Legionnaire, our responsibility is to share our experiences, to share our sense of Americanism, to support the community, the state and our nation,” said Chris, an Aston, Pa., resident and 8th District commander for the Pennsylvania American Legion.
“We integrate ourselves with the local schools at the American Legion post level. We integrate with the local schools. We go in, give talks to our kids and get them interested in the wars that we’ve fought in and, really, what the cost of freedom is. We instill a sense of understanding in that.”
