Written by Jenna Boylan|
Photos by Clara Franzoni, Victoria Le, Olivia Riccio|
Videos by Samantha Wayne|
On Monday, November 11th, 2019, The Morgan School spent the morning honoring our veterans. Principal Keri Hagness and newly appointed Assistant Principal Chris Luther thanked everyone for coming and celebrating the remembrance of our veterans. During the assembly, when each branch of the military was announced, veterans associated with that branch of the military stood to be honored by the audience. Students in the audience who have family or friends in the military also stood.
Bret Gravelins service dog, Vega. 
Veterans saluting to the flag 
Justin King performing “God Bless USA” 
One of the veterans telling a speech about how much he appreciated our school for doing this assembly 
A veteran giving a speech 
Students holding the flags and veterans standing for a moment of silence 
Veterans standing for their branch 
Christine Goupil giving a speech at the beginning of our assembly 
James Siciliano presenting a quilt to a veteran with the help of AJ Supik and Mike Fragola. 
Connor Page speaking about his Great Grandfather. 
An appreciation for this veteran 
A veteran appreciating our school for our Veteran’s Day Assembly 
A veteran announcing the branches of the army 
Old Morgan football coach, Corporal. 
A veteran standing for a moment of silence 
A veteran standing for his branch in the army 
Veterans being appreciated by our school 
Veteran clapping after a speech 
Veteran standing for his branch 
Veterans saluting the flag 
Justin King performing “God Bless USA” 
A veteran speaking at our assembly 
A veteran speaking at our assembly 
A veteran announcing up the Corporal 
Students of Morgan holding the flags 
Two veterans standing for the anthem of their branch in the army 
Amber Corrigan reading a poem 
A veteran giving a speech
Senior Connor Page read a speech about his great-grandfather, Harry Swan. Harry Swan passed away this year. For years, he was scorekeeper at Morgan’s games. He also coached Little League. Connor remembered Harry Swan’s saying, “Everybody plays.” Harry Swan served in the United States army. When he returned to Clinton, he served his community and family. Connor acknowledged that this was the first Veterans Day Mr. Swan would not take part in after participating for many, many years. He ended by asking the audience to honor his memory with a moment of silence.
Junior Justin King performed “God Bless USA”. He sang and played the song on the guitar.
Senior James Siciliano presented the Quilt of Valor with the help of Mike Fragola and AJ Supik. “Quilts of Valor is an organization run by volunteers who create custom handmade quilts for veterans and active-duty military members”. The Quilt was presented to Bret Gravelin. He served 8 years in the navy. After his service in the navy, he went into the army. Bret was severely injured in a helicopter accident. He then spent four years in Walter Reed Medical Center. Bret took part in a service dog program, and now has a service dog Vega. We thank Bret and Vega for their service.
The Morgan Chorus performed “In Flanders Field” by John McCrae, “Standing Tall” by Cyril Crain. The Morgan Band played the Pre-Assembly Music and The National Anthem. The Morgan Band also performed the Armed Forces Service Song medley. Senior Amber Corrigan and Senior Sarah Auletta read poems and speeches to the audience and the veterans.