Patriotic school children in Somersworth, New Hampshire, recognized a World War II veteran on Friday during a special gathering.
A few days before Veterans Day, Idlehurst Elementary School always honors the nation’s service members and this time the children did so with bouquets of flowers as gifts, WMUR reported Friday.
One guest was 100-year-old World War II U.S. Army veteran named Wilfred Cyr who received many hugs and thank yous from people at the ceremony.
The veteran was drafted when he turned 18 and during his time in the military he protected English airfields from enemy attacks with the 776th Battalion, also known as “Liberty Bell.”
World War II was the biggest and deadliest war in history, according to History.com:
The war began when Nazi Germany invaded Poland in 1939 and raged across the globe until 1945, when Japan surrendered to the United States after atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. By the end of World War II, an estimated 60 to 80 million people had died, including up to 55 million civilians, and numerous cities in Europe and Asia were reduced to rubble.
Meanwhile, school Principal Liza Cocco said of Cyr, “He’s an extremely special man, and I think he exemplifies what we want all of our children to grow up to be.”
Video footage shows the children dressed in red, white, and blue as they sang patriotic songs and enjoyed the special event while holding their hands over their hearts. When asked what he thought of the large ceremony, Cyr told WMUR it was “incredible.”
Veterans Day is always observed on November 11, and it is a day set aside for Americans to celebrate and honor the nation’s veterans “for their patriotism, love of country, and willingness to serve and sacrifice for the common good,” according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ website.
