Hauppauge School District Honors Our Veterans
The entire Hauppauge School District community was pleased to host numerous activities to honor the men and women in the armed forces who bravely serve(d) our country both here and abroad.
The Bretton Woods Elementary School’s faculty and students recognized veterans at their 10th Annual Veterans Day Assembly. Congressman Lee Zeldin was this year’s guest speaker, and he delivered a moving speech about the importance of recognizing U.S. veterans. On a more poignant note, among the service members was Ensign Charlie Lloyd who attended Bretton Woods and graduated from Hauppauge in 2011. Lloyd was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Navy in May 2015 and deployed one week later on the USS Forrest Sherman. He returned after six months in the Persian Gulf on November 7, and returned to Bretton Woods to attend his alma mater’s Veterans Day Assembly. He was seated beside his Grandfather, Charles Lloyd Sr., who is a Marine Corps veteran. “It was a very proud moment for our family,” stated Mrs. Lloyd. “We are blessed to be from Hauppauge.”
The Pines and Forest Brook Elementary Schools also held heartwarming Veterans Day Assemblies to honor family members and veterans from the community. The schools sold U.S. flags, which were displayed at the special celebrations. The proceeds from the flag sales were donated to the Long Island State Veterans Home in Stony Brook and the United Veterans Beacon House in Bay Shore. As Forest Brook Principal Kristen Reingold eloquently stated: “It’s important to remember that time and time again, ordinary people have served our Nation in extraordinary ways so that all Americans can pursue the happiness our Founding Fathers envisioned. … Your willingness to sacrifice for our country to defend and protect our freedoms has earned you our lasting gratitude. Thank you.”
Hauppauge High School hosted veterans from WWII up to the present day who spoke to students from 7th grade classes on up as well as to administrators and staff members. “We were fortunate to have all these veterans in one room together to share their history,” stated Social Studies Teacher Deborah Surian. “This allowed for a variety of perspectives from different periods of history for students to learn and ask questions about.” Surian also said that it was a “real treat’ to listen to Barbara Kruz, a gregarious WWII female Marine Veteran, who spoke of how women felt pride in their roles during the war. According to Kruz, “I am proud of what I did and I would do it again if I could.”
Each of the veterans described his/her military experiences and shared how these experiences changed/affected their lives. Some of the veterans discussed PTSD and how prevalent this is when veterans return from combat to assimilate back in civilian life. Afterward, the students were given an invaluable opportunity to speak one-on-one with the veterans.
“To be able to listen to ‘living history’ is something that is quite rare,” stated Hauppauge’s Director of Social Studies and Business. “In a few years, many of these veterans will not be here to share their personal narratives firsthand.”