Schools

VIDEO: St. Michael-Albertville High Honors Local Veterans

A solemn flag presentation and a speech from a local hero highlighted a ceremonial day at the school.

"Today we honor a people who believed in what they fought for," said Lt. Col. Jay DesCamps. "Who believed in a set of ideas. Today, we don't celebrate victory. We celebrate those who made victory possible."

DesCamps, a member of the Unite States Army who joined the service on the downward slope of the Cold War in 1981, said his career became much different after the World Trade Center was attacked by terrorists 10 years ago. 

"Everything changed, as people challenged our freedom in a way we'd never seen," the keynote speaker at Friday's Veterans Day ceremonies here at St. Michael-Albertville High School stated. 

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DesCamps was stationed in Anwar Province, Iraq, for a full 12 months in 2006, during the so-called "surge" in troops during the war in Iraq. He served as a budget adviser for the governor of the project, and worked closely with a local sheik in battling al Qaida, until that sheik was assisinated in September of 2007. 

"What the people learned, as that sheik cooperated with us, is that through a cooperation with America, there could be peace. And there could be freedom. And once they had a taste of it, the tribes there had a hunger for peace. And they fought back against al Qaida. 

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The ceremony included an introduction of local veterans, from those who fought in Korea to veterans of recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

The room fell silent as the Minnesota Honor Guard, representing the Minnesota Army National Guard at Fort Ripley, folded an American flag and presented the colors to St. Michael-Albertville High School Principal Bob Driver. 

"We accept this flag as an honor to our veterans," Driver said. "Thank you." 


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