United in gratitude Local veterans honored Monday

Monday morning's Veterans Day ceremonies at Aplington-Parkersburg High School and A-P Middle School emphasized the unifying power of Veterans Day in what speakers identified as an increasingly-divided political climate.

"Students here today have not known a unified America," A-P High School Principal Aaron Thomas said, noting that most in attendance were born on or after the year 2001 and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C. "We only know red and blue, Republican and Democrat, and not red, white and blue."

With recognition and thankfulness for what the veterans and their families sacrifice, Veterans Day is at least a brief reprieve, Thomas said.

"One thing we do get right is honoring our veterans," Thomas continued. "… Today is the most important holiday because the freedoms we enjoy would not exist without our veterans."

Following a breakfast at the high school, veterans and A-P High School students listened to the morning's keynote speaker, Sergeant First Class Adam Holm.

Holm is a 1993 graduate of Osage High School and joined the Marines out of high school.

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