BY DAN HILDEBRAN
The Union County High School Band and JROTC battalion led a Veterans Day ceremony at the school’s auditorium, emphasizing the importance of service and the courage of veterans.
Superintendent Mike Ripplinger said the event was broadcast to every classroom on campus. He added that the purpose of the ceremony was not only to deepen students’ appreciation for Veterans Day but also to ensure attending veterans felt the respect they have earned through their service.
“Because of you and your service to this grateful nation, we are here today,” he told the veterans in attendance. “Our community thanks you… evident by the flags placed along Highway 121, a tribute organized by the Lake Butler Rotary Club and its Interact Club.”
Ripplinger said that throughout the nation’s history, a special group of people has always answered the call, in times of peace and war.
“They have provided aid and support in times of natural disasters and kept a watchful eye on those who wish to do us harm,” he said. “They have also fought and died in the defense of this country and the liberties we too many times take for granted. These men and women represent the very best of what our nation has to offer.”
The origins of Veterans Day
JROTC Cadet Major Lillie Lane explained the origins of Veterans Day.
“Men and women have answered the call of freedom for this nation even before it began,” Lane told the audience.
She reminded the crowd that the Continental Army was formed in June 1775, nearly a year before the Declaration of Independence, and highlighted how, for 249 years, Americans have fought tyranny from World War II to modern counterterrorism.
Lane clarified the distinction between Veterans Day and Memorial Day: “Veterans Day pays tribute to all American veterans, living or deceased, but especially gives thanks to living veterans who served honorably in war or peacetime.”
Originally called Armistice Day in 1919 to mark the end of World War I, the holiday was renamed Veterans Day in 1954 by President Eisenhower.
Battalion Commander Lt. Col. Chloie Harris introduced the guest speaker, Petty Officer (Ret.) Angela Johnson, a Union County High School teacher since 2007.
Harris said that Johnson, who has taught everything from U.S. History to Holocaust Studies and coached varsity tennis for 19 years, served in the U.S. Navy from 1988 to 1996. Her assignments included cryptology training in Massachusetts and Florida, a two-year tour in Rota, Spain, and intelligence work at the National Security Agency in Fort Meade, Maryland.
After leaving active duty, Johnson earned a master’s in education and history from Notre Dame while supporting her husband, Howard Johnson, a 21-year U.S. Air Force veteran, through postings in Guam, Hawaii, and Japan.
A call to service
The theme of Johnson’s talk was service, and she began by recounting her own family’s service to their countries.
She said her British grandfather, Arthur Sander, served in the Royal Navy and Merchant Marine during World War II, his body covered in tattoos—a rarity at the time.
Her maternal grandfather, Donald McIntyre, drove a tank on D-Day, suffering permanent frostbite that turned his feet black.
“He said he was the lucky one,” Johnson recalled, “because he still had his feet.”
Great-uncle David McIntyre, a Marine, fought in the Pacific, including Iwo Jima.
“I remember Uncle Dave as a farmer, a quiet and kind individual,” she said, “but he never slept. He couldn’t.”
Uncle Richard McIntyre served in Korea. Johnson said she remembered the Korean veteran as running a strict household.
Uncle Robert Norton completed three tours in Vietnam, haunted by survivor’s guilt after his squadron was wiped out while he was home for his daughter’s funeral.
Johnson’s husband, Howard, was deployed during Desert Storm, often during blizzards that left Angela shoveling five feet of snow alone in Maryland.
Johnson herself served in naval intelligence, briefing top leaders and receiving late-night transmissions that included horrific images from Iraq’s Kurdish crisis, moments that “saved me from the front lines but not from seeing what man is capable of doing to each other.”
The veteran-instructor spoke about the unseen cost of service: sleepless operations, relentless training, lifelong bonds forged in hardship, and the unique burden on military spouses.
“Military spouses work just as hard,” she said. “You pack the house, manage the kids, open your home to lonely airmen on holidays, and you put your career on hold because service to family and country matters.”
Johnson said that after Howard retired, the family faced a tough transition, with no military housing and no support network. At one point, her husband worked three jobs.
But after she landed the teaching job in Lake Butler, Johnson said Union County welcomed the family with open arms.
“Union County has treated us like family since our arrival,” she said. “This community raised our children with us.”
Today, their oldest son, Christopher, is a teacher, their daughter, Lithia, is a doctor, and their younger son, Sidney, is a pastor.
Johnson challenged students: “If you want to serve, embark on the adventure. You’ll find the most amazing opportunities.”
She closed with gratitude.
“To veterans, thank you for your sacrifice. To spouses, thank you for your unseen strength. To the community, thank you for supporting us like family.”
Union County Judge Mitchell D. Bishop concluded the ceremony with a combination of quotes from Thomas Jefferson, John F. Kennedy, George W. Bush, and a quote that is not attributable to any one person but is universally recognized as a tribute to veterans.
“All gave some,” he said. “Some gave all.”
