Photo By Sgt. William Hill | Lt. Col. Eric Ebb, a chaplain at Camp Atterbury Joint Maneuver Training Center,...... read more read more
CAMP ATTERBURY JOINT MANEUVER TRAINING CENTER, Ind.- Soldiers celebrated Veterans Day in many different ways: some took pause and reflected on past events and some Soldiers gave speeches honoring and thanking those who gave the ultimate sacrifice. One Soldier witnessed it all.
For Lt. Col. Eric Ebb, a chaplain at Camp Atterbury Joint Maneuver Training Center, the day started off at East Side Elementary School in Edinburgh, Ind. The school gymnasium erupted in cheers and applause from more than 400 students and staff members as they stood to give thanks to veterans and service members.
"Wow, to walk in and have the entire school standing and cheering, now that was an awesome feeling," said Ebb.
The students all laughed and asked questions of Ebb as he showed them a slide show of Soldiers helping children in the Middle East.
"I love speaking to children at schools and church groups and I tell them about all the positive things coming out of the current wars. I tell them about the children that are being helped by our military," said Ebb.
Rebecca Morrison, a kindergarten teacher at the school, said every year for the past five years they have had veterans and Soldiers come speak at the school on Veterans Day.
"It is so important for our school kids to interact with Soldiers and learn what they do because Camp Atterbury is so close to the community and being a military wife it gives me pride to honor our veterans," said Morrison.
After the kids said their goodbyes, Ebb then rushed over to the Prisoner of War Chapel across from Camp Atterbury to perform a wedding for two Soldiers.
Sgt. 1st Class John Piper and his wife, Staff Sgt. Kerri Piper, who both work at Camp Atterbury, got married on Veterans Day.
After the two said their vows, Ebb hosted a Veterans Day Ceremony at the Post Chapel here.
"Each year the 11th hour, of the 11th day, in the 11th month is set aside to pay tribute to all the veterans who have answered their country's call to protect freedom. We are gathered here today to continue that time-honored tradition," Ebb said during the ceremony.
After a moment of silence and a prayer from Ebb, the ceremony was over and before he dashed off to another event he shared his thoughts on the importance of Veterans Day.
"Veterans Day began to recognize the war to end all wars - World War I. Sadly it did not end all wars and now it is a day to recognize the sacrifice of the men and women who have fought in all wars," said Ebb.
Ebb said one of his goals as the post chaplain is to create an environment that helps the Soldiers understand the deeper reason why they are here.
"It is easy to get caught up in your day-to-day training events and lose sight of the bigger picture," he said. "Every Soldier is a part of a global effort to make this world a better place. One of the ways religious support programs help is to conduct ceremonies like we did today, ceremonies that allow the Soldier time for pause to reflect on the legacy that they are inheriting."
| Date Taken: | 11.12.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 11.12.2009 15:53 |
| Story ID: | 41487 |
| Location: | CAMP ATTERBURY, IN, US |
| Web Views: | 237 |
| Downloads: | 172 |
This work, Camp Atterbury Soldier observes Veterans Day at local events, by SGT William Hill, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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