Star Middle School students and veterans from the community leaned forward to listen when former Gov. Butch Otter came to the microphone during a morning assembly for the school’s annual Veterans Tribute.
“These are the times that try men’s souls,” Otter said, quoting the entirety of revolutionary Thomas Paine’s “American Crisis” in an address to veterans and middle schoolers. Otter served in the U.S. Army.
Just after 9 a.m., an American Legion Honor Guard entered the Star Middle School gym to a bugle call, initiating the ceremony.
State law mandates all schools make an observance of Veterans Day lasting at least one period, if the date falls on a school day.
Star Middle’s hourlong tribute mixed patriotic music with historical references, including an explanation of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and a recital of the Gettysburg Address…