Local veterans visit Yocum Primary
Yocum Primary School first-graders enjoyed a visit from a group of local veterans on Friday as part of a program to mark Veterans Day, which is today.
Students gathered in the school’s cafeteria for the program, which began with the Pledge of Allegiance and the National Anthem.
Veterans who participated included Daniel Simpson, a U.S. Marines veteran; Chris Thomas, a Coast Guard veteran; Woodie Walthall, an Army National Guard veteran; Sgt. Bradley Cullum, a current U.S. Air Force recruiter; Jeremy Ibert, Navy veteran; and Eddie C. Morgan, an Army veteran.
Each veteran spoke briefly to the gathered students and most brought pictures of their time in the service, starting with Ibert and Thomas.
Thomas encouraged the students to “keep learning and pay attention in school.”
Simpson brought a picture of the unit he served with in the Persian Gulf.
“I wanted everybody to see, this is my Forward Combat Unit that I was in,” Simpson said to applause from the students.
Cullum, who said he has been in the Air Force for 12 years, gave students some tips to “set themselves up for success.”
“Following the leadership team at your school - being respectful, taking care of each other, taking care of your homework and doing everything you need to do and working hard… will help set you up for success when you get older. [There are] still things I need to do today,” Cullum said, who continued by telling stories about visits to foreign countries including his experience swimming in the Dead Sea.
Walthall and Morgan closed out the program.
“The most exciting thing I think I did in the Army was - I got a chance to jump out of airplanes… and taught others how to jump out of airplanes,” Morgan said, continuing to say that discipline he learned in school aided him in the Army.
He closed out by leading students in a call-and-response of “Airborne - all the way.”
The program ended with students handing out personalized “thank you” cards to the veterans.