Carrollton Elementary School students honor veterans at annual Veterans Day service

About 140 fifth grade students from Carrollton Elementary School braved the cold to attend Carrollton’s annual Veterans Day service held Nov. 11 at Westview Cemetery, along with several veterans and their families. 

The service included an opening and closing prayer by VFW and American Legion Chaplain Doug Graham and guest speaker Eddie McLean, a Marine and Air Force reservist, who was introduced by Jim Newbold, VFW Fighting McCook Post 3301 quartermaster. 

In his opening remarks, McLean explained the meaning of Veterans Day, “Let us begin. And this is the end of it. In three hours, the war will be over. It seems incredible even as I write it, I suppose I ought to be thrilled and cheering. Instead, I am merely apathetic and incredulous…. There is some cheering across the river…. an occasional burst of it as the news is carried to the front lines. For the most part though, we are in silence, with all of us feeling that it can’t be true…. For months we slept under the guns… we cannot comprehend the silence.” — Robert Casey, Battery G, 124th Field Artillery Regiment, 33rd Division, Nov. 11, 1918. 

“And thus ended the fighting on the Western Front of World War I. Originally known as Armistice Day, November 11th has evolved into Veteran’s Day,” McLean said. 

“But what exactly is a veteran?” he asked. 

“Beyond the legal definition of 90 days or more of continuous service, the best definition arises from an unknown origin and simply states: A veteran, whether active duty, discharged, retired or reserve, is someone who, at one point in his or her life, wrote a blank check made payable to The United States of America for an amount up to and including his or her life.'

Included in McLean’s talk were three veterans whose stories he shared with the listeners. 

They included Paco Martinez, father of Paquito Martinez, a young soldier who was shot and killed in Ramadi, Iraq, March 5, 2004. 

McLean said he and Paco were both sent to Kirkuk, Iraq, in 2008, and they connected and often worked together. 

The speaker then turned to Nicholas Cayton, who was a friend of McLean’s sons Brady and Connor. Cayton, whose service began in the Ohio National Guard, included serving as an MP in the military from 2008 (Iraq) and later deploying to Afghanistan. 

Cayton, a graduate of Carrollton High School, was fatally injured last month when his State Highway Patrol cruiser was struck from behind while he was assisting a motorist. 

The third veteran friend mentioned by the speaker was Weapons Platoon Sgt. Dean Marini, whom McLean met in 1985 when he was assigned to the Weapons Platoon of his Marine Reserve unit in Akron. 

“He and I along with fellow Weapons Platoon Marines Shaun Baer and Gary Hurley formed a group later dubbed by fellow Marines as The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse,” the speaker told the group. 

“Your being here today on this cold winter morning shows your appreciation for our veterans or your fellow veterans. I salute you and I challenge you to leave here today and find a way to help those Veterans in need,” McLean said. 

“Donate to any one of the veteran charities, join an organization, start one, or at the very least call or stop by to see a veteran in your life. Be their hero,” he said.