South Middle School’s 45th annual Veterans Day celebration Tuesday morning featured guest speaker Joe McGarrh, a United States Air Force veteran and current member of the Henderson County Board of Education.
McGarrh’s them was the “wing man,” and he first defined that in Air Force terms as a jet that rides beside another pilot on his or her wing.
No fighter jet should fly alone, he said. He also defined wing man in every day terms, and told SMS students that if they know of someone in their lives that feels helpless, or that they feel that the world has forgotten them, or that all hope is lost—“Your job is to pick them up.”
McGarrh related a personal tragedy as a time in his life when a wing man helped him get by. During his time in the Air Force when he was stationed in Japan, he got a call from his father back in the United States. It was his father, who told him that his mother had died by suicide.
“Joseph, your mom took her life,” he said his father told him.
He called Staff Sgt. John Herrera, who came and picked him up and talked to him and let him stay with his family that night before he got a flight home. His friend “knew what it meant to be a wing man,” McGarrh said.
“I challenge you to be a friend to someone in need,” he told the students, while also asking those who may be losing hope to seek out a parent, a teacher or a friend.
McGarrh also mentioned the three core values of the Air Force: integrity, service before self and excellence in all we do.
The celebration featured many local armed forces veterans who entered during a “Parade of Heroes,” and were also recognized by standing when the anthem of the military branch they belonged to was played by the SMS band.
Henderson Mayor Brad Staton, Henderson County Judge-Executive Brad Schneider, Henderson County Schools Superintendent Bob Lawson and SMS Principal Stacey Fish spoke.
Lawson said the word for the day was “gratitude” for veterans’ selfless service, unwavering dedication and sacrifices.
