Veterans Day Reflections
North Clarion High School and Elementary School students join together each year, to reflect on the 11th day of the 11th month, anniversary of the Armistice, which has come to be known as Veterans Day.
We gather to honor US veterans as the peacekeepers of our nation.
The assembly is organized by the North Clarion Chapter of the Junior Historians.
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The United States of America has sustained the freedoms of a democracy since the State House of Philadelphia and the writing of the constitution in 1787.
- The freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of the press, and the right to a fair trial.
As a people, we govern ourselves through our elected representatives. The power flows not from the government to the people, but rather from the people to the government.
Using 2006 statistics, there are 167 countries on the globe. Of those, 28 are considered to have a full democracy. Of those 28, only a handful, five countries, since 1900, have sustained an unbroken, full democracy for more than 40 years: Sweden, Switzerland, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the fifty United States of America.
The citizens of some countries have seen such turmoil in their land, their country’s democracy has lasted only a few years, until those in power were overtaken by a stronger force and dictator, or overcome by Fascism or Socialism.
Americans are truly fortunate. We enjoy freedom and prosperity of unequaled measure.
However, throughout our history, that freedom has been challenged by those who do not share our belief in the freedom and dignity of each individual.
The freedoms of a democracy must be continually maintained.
Florence Kennedy wrote; “Freedom is like taking a bath. You have to keep doing it every day.”
It is the job of the military to keep our freedoms alive.
Every day, they must maintain our freedoms, and sustain our democracy.
The men and women of the military provide a protective shield for the citizens of the United States of America.
We honor these men and women for their valiant defense of our rights and the advance of freedoms worldwide.
We enjoy the freedom of expression because of the men and women in the military who defended that freedom.
The United States of America is a country filled with the promise of tomorrow, because it has a history shaped by Veterans.
Located between the North Clarion County Elementary School Building and the North Clarion County Junior Senior High School Building is a Veterans Memorial Courtyard.
Please visit the memorial at any time and reflect on the great sacrifices made for the freedom of America.
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