‘Let them tell you their stories’

Nearly 1,000 people — veterans, parents, students, faculty and public officials — jammed the grounds of St. John the Baptist Catholic School as the school’s annual Veterans Day program commenced.

The giant tent for the event, which grows every year, spilled out with guests and students trying to watch the program, and hundreds upon hundreds were gathered to see, including representatives of local and state government.

The Rev. Norbert Wood told the audience that the school printed more programs this year than ever before — and still ran out, by a lot.

Thoughts of veterans had a special significance that day for the school, as one of its own was headed to the service. Kyle Lux, a former St. John the Baptist student, was scheduled that day to begin Army boot camp.

There were students of all classes singing patriotic songs, from “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” to “God Bless America,” and even a class of students swing dancing to the Andrews Sisters’ World War II hit “The Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy (of Company B).”

Administrators wove in stories about the first purple hearts given out by George Washington and the history of the song “Yankee Doodle Dandy.”

But the event culminated in a talk by retired Marine Major William Mimiaga, the keynote speaker, who talked on a wide range of issues, from the importance of visiting veterans in the hospital to the corruption of legislators and the problems of free agency in professional sports. Quoting Shakespeare’s “Henry V” and Abraham Lincoln alike, he talked of his own experiences as a 31-year veteran who had gone on to be a special-education teacher.

“These kids are sitting right here because you wore the uniform and defended your nation,” he said to veterans of all ages. “Thank you for your service, thank you for your sacrifice, thank you for picking up after coming back home and contributing to the community.”

How best to thank a veteran? A holiday observance is just the beginning, Mimiaga said.

“Tying a yellow ribbon on a tree is a beautiful thing, but ribbons fade,” he said. “The best thing you can do is tell a veteran, ‘Thank you for your service.’ Or go over to [a Veterans Affairs hospital] and just listen. Let them tell you their stories.”

MICHAEL ALEXANDER may be reached at (714) 966-4618 or at michael.alexander@latimes. com.