It was a sea of red, white and blue at Pleasant Valley Middle School's Veterans Day program. All the seventh- and eighth-grade students wore either red, white or blue shirts. Principal Rocco Seiler, a U.S. Marine veteran, called "Attention" to the student body, and as one, they all stood at attention as the color guard, comprising members of different Boy and Girl Scouts troops, posted the colors.

Sarah Rusnock, coordinator of the Veterans Day Assembly and remedial math teacher, said, "We can never fully repay our debt of gratitude to the more than 800,000 American service members who died in battle or the 1.5 million who were wounded. We can, however, recognize and thank the 21 million veterans still living today."She introduced school staff who served in the military: Seiler, a PV graduate, 10 years in the Marine Corps, then he joined the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves, achieving the rank of staff sergeant; Dana West, eighth-grade math teacher and retired Army major; and Cindy Sekonic, German teacher, who served in the Marine Corps from 2000-2004, achieving the rank of corporal.Special recognition was given to veteran Barry Schaffer of Jonas, a Vietnam War hero who attended with his wife, Maxine; Jesiah Schrader, a 2007 Pleasant Valley graduate and Army National Guard member; and Chief Kristine Rommel, an active Coast Guard reservist.The keynote speaker via Skype was Seiler's brother, Senior Master Sgt. Patrick Seiler, stationed at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickman, Hawaii, who is also a Pleasant Valley graduate. He said the one thing they can all relate to is the American flag and what it stands for.Senator-elect Mario Scavello said, "It's all about the veterans today. Thank a veteran every day. Pursue whatever you want to do in life because they made it possible for you to do so."Rep. Rosemary Brown told the students that the number one function of government is to protect the people and part of that protection comes from our military and our veterans.Lisa Kaye, a U.S. Army veteran of the Persian Gulf War, worked at Polk Elementary School for four years and is the women's coordinator for the Pennsylvania State Association of County Directors for Veterans Affairs. The mother of four has a son, Alex, a 2011 graduate, who is an Army Reservist on deployment in Cuba. Kaye said veterans are part of a unique family and she is proud to be a veteran.Retired Sgt. Maj. Mark Baylis, a 26-year active duty soldier and founder and CEO of the VALOR Clinic Foundation, told the student body that they did a great job with the program."It was an honor to our veterans and I'm proud of you," he said.He spoke briefly how he had served in Cambodia, India, Afghanistan and Iraq and was glad he served. When he broke his back in 2003 "and couldn't blow things up anymore, I was told it was time to go home." He talked about how difficult it is to be reassimilated back into civilian life."War stays with you a long time," he said.A poem, "Freedom" written by a former middle school student, was read by Danielle Formato and the chorus sang "Land that We Love."