'It's heart': Veterans, active service members honored and show appreciation

SOUTH BERWICK, Maine — Active and former service members young and old swapped U.S. military memories at the Great Works School on Thursday, a gathering held in honor of Veterans Day this week.

Past and present members representing each U.S. military branch were present for a student-driven remembrance.

Navy veteran Mike St. Pierre of Berwick recognized Petty Officer Second Class John Maier’s title via a patch on the young sailor’s uniform. Maier, a 27-year-old serving aboard the USS Texas, which is currently stationed at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, is an electronics technician nuclear, one of several submariners who control the USS Texas’ nuclear reactor.

The technician, now in his third year of active service, listened intently to St. Pierre, a retired marine mechanic whose active duty services brought him to 13 Far East countries, including South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines.

“You have to appreciate the people who came before you, because everything that they’ve done helps us do our jobs,” Maier said.

Students of the Great Works School led a reading from “America’s White Table” by Margot Theis Raven, read essays centered on remembering the sacrifices made by U.S. military veterans and sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” and “A Tribute to the Armed Services." The school annually holds a Veterans Day assembly, welcoming current and previous military members.

“This is our little way of saying, 'Thank you. Thank you for your dedication. Thank you for your sacrifice,'” school Principal Jerry Burnell said Thursday.

St. Pierre served on the USS Oklahoma City, a submarine named the flagship of the U.S. 7th Fleet, which today is the largest forward-deployed U.S. fleet, according to the Navy.

The Berwick resident looked back on his travels fondly.

“I did things a little bit differently. A lot of sailors when they hit port, they hit the bar scene right away, whereas I went on shore,” St. Pierre said. “I would hire a rickshaw or a bicycle attendant, and I would have them bring me to local cultural centers, temples or parks, and I’d just talk to locals. It was a great duty. It was fun.”

Veterans and active military members were spread throughout the auditorium, with some like William Rankin, a Navy veteran who sailed the North Atlantic during the Cold War, there to see his grandchildren.

Rankin, who was stationed in New London, Connecticut, on the USS Dace (SSN-607), hopes children today appreciate those who have served and those who currently serve.

“We’ve memorialized everything that we can, I think,” Rankin said. “And we’re still doing it."

How can kids learn the significance of military service beyond what’s taught in schools?

“For me, it means showing our appreciation for people who served in the past and those who are serving now,” said Navy Master-At-Arms Second Class Jason Ruiz.

Ruiz, also based at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, held a traditionally folded American flag on Thursday for flag ceremony duties.

“It’s not just time we’re giving,” he said. “It’s heart.”

Retired Coast Guardsman Ben O’Brien, a machinery technician first class, served from 1996 to 2016. Father to one Great Works student and uncle to another, O’Brien said he was the last active duty guardsmen to serve as the lighthouse keeper for Boston Light on Little Brewster Island, the first lighthouse built in the American colonies in 1716. The lighthouse is now run by Sally Snowman, the last active official lighthouse keeper in the United States.

O’Brien, seated next to fellow former Coast Guardsman Jeremy Huston, wore his old uniform on Thursday.

“I think that brings it home for them. It’s not just like, ‘OK, Dad’s a veteran.’ It means I actually wore the uniform and did the work,” he said.

Huston spent five years in the Coast Guard — two in Alaska and the rest doing search rescue work in Yaquina Bay in Oregon.

Since leaving his post in 2001, Huston has missed the camaraderie with fellow service members and the outreach to the public.

“It’s wonderful that we still recognize veterans and that kids understand what we did,” he said.

Maier called Thursday’s ceremony an opportunity to connect with those who served before him.

“For me, it’s very important because my life would not be the same had it not been for all the people who have been in the Navy before me," he said. "The lessons that they learned and the work that they put it in, it all comes down and it all gets passed onto us. Everything that we learned and everything that we teach has been passed down. It’s so important to take that knowledge and move forward with it and build on it. It doesn’t just keep myself safe, it keeps everyone safe as a team.”

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Veterans, active service members show appreciation for each other