NC hosted its annual Veterans Day ceremony on Wednesday, November 11, during first block. Veterans in the Kennesaw-Acworth area and NC teachers and staff who served the United States made their way into the media center by 8:30 for breakfast and coffee and live music courtesy of the chamber orchestra.

Planning for the event “started in October”, according to front office administrator Mrs Epps. The school invites, Mrs. Epps said, “just about everyone,” from parents and grandparents of students, to local veteran politicians, corporate sponsors, and just about any veteran connected to the school.

After posing for photos and mingling with the other veterans present, Commander Joel Reeves, head of NC’s ROTC program, led the veterans to the lobby, where ROTC Cadets read the names of fallen veterans, rang a bell in their memory, and held a moment of silence in remembrance.

After their tranquil moment, the veterans walked to the theater and entered the student filled auditorium to the sound of the orchestra and chorus performing “America the Beautiful.” After the presentation of the colors by the NC NJROTC and the NC chorus performance of the “Star Spangled Banner,” Commander Reeves welcomed the 2015 veterans day speaker: retired Coast Guardsman Captain Charles E. Polk III. Captain Polk explained the role of the Coast Guard, an often overlooked aspect of the U.S. military, and presented a video on Douglas Munro, the only Coast Guard recipient of the Medal of Honor, America’s highest honor for servicemen and women.

After Captain Polk’s speech, the NC NJROTC again honored those who sacrificed their lives, this time in front of the veterans and the students present. NC’s orchestra played “God Bless America” and Principal Horton thanked the student body for honoring our veterans, and asked them to honor them even more if possible.