Friday, November 12, 2004
School honors grad killed in Iraq combat
Eisenhower High holds elaborate Veterans Day ceremony, attended by 2,000 students.
By Francis X. Donnelly / The Detroit News
http://www.detnews.com/2004/schools/0411/12/D01-3443.htm
PIC: Shelby Township VFW Post 4659 World War II veteran Philip Foss of Sterling Heights salutes as students raise the school and state flags after the VFW honor guard he was in raised the American flag.
SHELBY TOWNSHIP - On a cold afternoon better suited for homecoming and football games, a high school named after a war hero honored all those who served in the military
Eisenhower High School's motivation for holding the two-hour Veterans Day ceremony Thursday was personal: One of the honored veterans was a recent student athlete who died last month in Iraq.
Army Pvt. Mark Barbret, class of 2000, who loved football, jokes and America, was just 22 when his Humvee hit a roadside bomb near Ramadi.
"He could put a smile on your face," said his dad, Kim Barbret.
"If he had a fault, it was that he wanted to stay young."
In a way, Mark Barbret got his wish because young is how his family and friends will always remember him.
Scenes similar to the high school memorial played out across southeast Michigan Thursday as military and social organizations paid homage to the soldiers, sailors and paratroopers who fought for the United States.
The Eisenhower High service resonated a bit louder than others during a time when the country is at war and most of the people doing the fighting aren't much older than the students.
Few of the people who spoke at the school's ceremony knew Barbret or his family. But they knew a lot of youths who easily could have been him.
In some cases, the speakers were high school students, themselves.
"Remembering their sacrifices on just this day is not nearly enough," said Kyle Dysarz, 16, a junior. "We should remember them in the classrooms and on the athletic fields."
The student council member said citizens should honor veterans by voting and participating in democracy.
"By actively participating, we show them our greatest reverence and respect," the teen said.
Different student groups participated in the service, which began outside with a flyover by an orange Coast Guard helicopter.
It then moved indoors, to a series of speeches in the auditorium.
The school's solo and ensemble class sang "America the Beautiful" as several veterans in the audience silently mouthed the words. Three members of the student council presented a wreath of red roses and white carnations that held a banner reading "In memory of Mark."
Other students raised the school and state flags while a VFW honor guard raised the American flag. In Barbret's last conversation with his mom, he asked her to fly a U.S. flag in his honor if anything ever happened to him.
While some of the school's 2,000 students filled the auditorium, others watched on televisions in their classrooms. In a journalism class, half the 20 students watched ; the other half typed on their computers.
For some, it was just another day at school. For others, it was a day of lessons of death and sacrifice and valor.
Kevin Donahue, who teaches social studies, told the audience in the darkened auditorium that there's much they can learn from veterans.
"We live the lives we live today because of the people who served for us," he said. "The day is our chance to thank them and remind us that we have a chance to live up to their legacy."
With Veterans Day coming so soon after the divisive presidential election, where the Iraq War was a major issue, some of the speakers' statements carried political overtones.
But the words by an emotional Jacqueline Noonan, the mayor of Utica, were poignant, not partisan.
A self-described history buff who has visited battlefields from Normandy to Gettysburg, she said such trips never fail to make her cry. As she spoke, her eyes began to moisten.
"They put themselves in harm's way every single day," she said. "I thank those whose lives were spent defending our country."
You can reach Francis X. Donnelly at (313) 223-4186 or fdonnelly@