People across the Flathead Valley, including students of all ages, gathered Wednesday for separate ceremonies to honor America’s veterans.

The Veterans Day events celebrated the service of all U.S. military veterans. The entire student body at Glacier High School gathered in the main commons area before classes to witness the local Color Guard and to say the Pledge of Allegiance. Similar assemblies took place in Whitefish, Columbia Falls, Bigfork and throughout the valley’s rural outskirts throughout the day. Trinity Lutheran School in Kalispell held a celebration and collected donations for the Montana Veterans Home in Columbia Falls.

In Somers and Lakeside, students are participating in a statewide campaign called “Pass the Helmet,” which raises funds for veterans through the Volunteers of America, the state’s largest private provider of veterans services.

Over 50 people gathered at Depot Park in downtown Kalispell for the annual ceremony in front of the Flathead County Veterans Memorial. The annual gathering was hosted by the Kalispell Memorial Board, the Civil Air Patrol and the United Veterans of the Flathead Valley.

The Kalispell crowd included 91-year-old Jim Crow.

Crow served in the U.S. Army as a staff sergeant from 1943-1945 during World War II. He and his daughter attended this year’s event in Kalispell as they have for years.

“It means a lot,” Crow said afterward.

“We’re just very lucky that all these people have fought for us over the years,” Crow’s daughter, Mary Peters, said.

Veterans Day provides an opportunity to remember the importance, significance and sacrifice of America’s veterans. Over the years, the Beacon has written several stories about local veterans.

Here are a few stories worth revisiting on this day of special recognition.

Alone in Vietnam

Fifty years after combat operations escalated in Southeast Asia, Vietnam veterans still live with the psychological impacts of battle and a homecoming that never was

Forty-eight years ago this fall, Tip Clark was shot down over the jungles of South Vietnam. »»» READ MORE

The Eagle Circle Wall of Remembrance at the CSKT Tribal Headquarters in Pablo. The memorial, which was constructed in 2010, features over 1,200 names of all tribal members who have served the U.S. military since the 1877. Dillon Tabish | Flathead Beacon — The Eagle Circle Wall of Remembrance at the CSKT Tribal Headquarters in Pablo. The memorial, which was constructed in 2010, features over 1,300 names of tribal members who served the U.S. military since the 1877. Dillon Tabish | Flathead Beacon

CSKT Monument Honors Strong Tradition of Service Among Tribal Members

Monument in Pablo features over 1,300 names of veteran tribal members dating back to 1877, including World War II hero Louis Charlo

The famous battle of Iwo Jima, which involved more than 100,000 American and Japanese fighters in World War II, is often remembered through the iconic photograph showing U.S. Marines of the 28th Regiment of the Fifth Division raising the flag atop Mt. Suribachi on Feb. 23, 1945. »»» READ MORE

Montana World War II veterans visit memorials in Washington D.C. as part of the Honor Flight Network. - Photo courtesy of Mike Thompson — Montana World War II veterans visit memorials in Washington D.C. as part of the Honor Flight Network. – Photo courtesy of Mike Thompson

Local WWII Veterans Take Honor Flight to D.C.

Ten veterans visit war memorials at nation’s capital

They’ve been called members of the Greatest Generation, heroes from a time when the world needed them, when everything was going wrong as World War II picked up momentum. They answered President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s call after the attacks on Pearl Harbor, and they persevered against the Axis of Evil. »»» READ MORE

Profiles of Courage

As memories of World War II fade, local veterans and members of the Greatest Generation share their stories

When World War II finally ended in 1945, 16 million American veterans returned home to sort out their lives in peacetime. As of last year, there were only 4,784 WWII veterans in Montana. »»» READ MORE

Allen Erickson, founder of Northwest Montana Veteran's Food Pantry, pictured Friday, June 5, 2014. Greg Lindstrom | Flathead Beacon — Allen Erickson, founder of Northwest Montana Veteran’s Food Pantry, pictured Friday, June 5, 2014. Greg Lindstrom | Flathead Beacon

Caring for Our Veterans

As scandal rocks the nation’s Department of Veterans Affairs, locals continue to work toward solutions at the ground level

At the Veterans Food Pantry, the shelves sag under the weight of canned goods, and the back room has a mountain of donated clothes waiting to be sorted. »»» READ MORE

Don Doane was 18 when he signed up for the U.S. Army. - Lido Vizzutti/Flathead Beacon — Don Doane was 18 when he signed up for the U.S. Army. – Lido Vizzutti/Flathead Beacon

A Home for Heroes

Veterans at Columbia Falls nursing facility share their stories

Don Doane, who spent three years training World War II soldiers how to operate heavy equipment and shoot bazookas, believes cigarettes saved his life. »»» READ MORE

Iraq veteran Apollo Child, center, reaches for his son, Nathan, while talking about the difficulties of finding a job as his wife, Tamara Child, and Army veteran Dale Merrill, right, look on at the Flathead Job Service. - Lido Vizzutti/Flathead Beacon — Iraq veteran Apollo Child, center, reaches for his son, Nathan, while talking about the difficulties of finding a job as his wife, Tamara Child, and Army veteran Dale Merrill, right, look on at the Flathead Job Service. – Lido Vizzutti/Flathead Beacon

Jobless on the Homefront

Montana’s veteran unemployment rate among highest in the nation

Apollo Child spent a year fighting for his country in Iraq. When he returned home to Kalispell, a happy wife and newborn baby were waiting for him, but a job wasn’t. He’s been unemployed for two months now and he’s beginning to have flashbacks to his poverty-stricken childhood. »»» READ MORE

Sgt. Dan Reese, right, and Spc. Lucas Kirkland rehearse folding and presenting the American flag before a funeral at the Conrad Memorial Cemetery. - Lido Vizzutti/Flathead Beacon — Sgt. Dan Reese, right, and Spc. Lucas Kirkland rehearse folding and presenting the American flag before a funeral at the Conrad Memorial Cemetery. – Lido Vizzutti/Flathead Beacon

Final Honors

For regional coordinator of the rapidly growing Honor Guard, military funerals are a full-time job

At a Missoula cemetery two autumns ago, a father stood alone at his son’s burial. He watched as three Honor Guard soldiers conducted military funeral services, paying respect to a fallen U.S. Army veteran. Save for the gravedigger, there was nobody else there that day. »»» READ MORE

Ceremonies Across Flathead Valley Honor Veterans