EVANSTON — Veterans Day at Horizon High School was celebrated with a program organized by the student council and held in the lunchroom to accommodate social distancing.

Student Council President Destiny Rasmussen opened the program. Student Council member Maggie Tomlinson had invited her uncle, Army veteran Brent Tomlinson, to be the keynote speaker.

Tomlinson, who attended via Zoom, has a 22-year career in the Army and is now in the Texas National Guard, shared his experiences with the students. He said he joined the Army when he was 31 years old and when he was in boot camp the younger soldiers called him “grandpa.” Tomlinson has been deployed four times to different countries in the Middle East. His special assignments have included interrogation and forensics. He also said he spent time in the Czech Republic, Germany, Korea and England training U.S. and allied troops.

He said the physical conditioning aspect of basic training was a real challenge. A soldier has to carry up to 200 pounds of equipment and walk for miles. Tomlinson said he liked the training of discipline and control. He added that he thinks basic training was harder physically when he joined than it is today.

“Being deployed is one of the greatest challenges of the military as you have to leave your family. I knew those times would come so when I joined at a late age I had to get my wife to agree, knowing how difficult it would be for her. My wife and children are “soldiers” and the true heroes because of their undying support,” Tomlinson said.

A great benefit to joining the military is they pay college tuition, Tomlinson said. He has been working on a degree so when he retires in three years he will be qualified for civilian employment.

When asked by a student what his favorite part of being in the Army is, Tomlinson laughed and responded that he loves blowing things up.

When there were no more questions from students, Tomlinson shared a personal story he said is a high point for him regarding his service in the Army.

“When I was in Iraq, my youngest son sent me a Flat Stanley, the little boy cut-out that schools were having kids send all over the world. Well, I took Flat Stanley everywhere and the other guys got a kick out of taking pictures with him and we had a lot of fun with Stanley,” Tomlinson said.

The program concluded with Arne Hengesteg, Social Studies teacher, who provided historical background on Veterans Day. In 1919, after WWI — the “great war” that was supposed to end all wars —  had ended, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed November 11 as the first commemoration of Armistice Day to honor veterans of WWI. At 11 a.m. on the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918, the fighting of WWI had ceased. After WWII, on October 8, 1938, President Dwight D. Eisenhower issued the first “Veterans Day Proclamation” to honor all veterans of wars. Veterans Day continues to be observed on Nov. 11 because of its historical significance.

Principal Hamilton closed the program and informed students the pictures they had brought of family members in the military would be shown on the screen in the commons area throughout the day.