Veterans share their experiences with Circleville Middle School students

Veterans are revered in Pine Bush schools. On Veterans Day, they are honored in many ways – with breakfasts and music performances, cards and other expressions of thanks.

The students at Circleville Middle School have a tradition of hosting local veterans for breakfast but also having some time with veterans, asking questions about their experiences in the military and back home.

This year was extra special as the veterans gathered with students before the breakfast and question-and-answer session. The vets talked to the students in large groups. They taught proper flag etiquette and about holding their hand over their heart when saluting the flag. But they also talked to the students about life.

Bruce Wilson grew up in Otisville and now lives in Montgomery. He explained to the students that from the time he was in sixth grade, he was bullied relentlessly by three of his classmates. They wouldn’t let him play baseball or soccer. They just would not leave him alone, all the way through high school. Wilson decided to do something about it.

He joined the Boy Scouts. There, he had friends who weren’t bullies. He learned a lot, including life skills that he still uses today.

When he graduated high school, he joined the Marines. The bullies told him he would never make it as a Marine. He proved them wrong. He served his country proudly. One day, while he was home on leave, he was walking down the street wearing his uniform proudly. He saw the three young men and worried they would continue picking on him. They didn’t.

“Nobody picks on a Marine,” Wilson told the students.

The students broke into their smaller groups to interview the veterans. Do you have any regrets being in the military one student asked a veteran. “None,” was his answer. “I learned a lot about life. “