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A committee of students and faculty with the sponsorship of area banks hosted a Veteran’s Day program that took place Thursday in the Vidalia High School gymnasium. (Sabrina Robertson | The Natchez Democrat)

Veterans Mark Vidrine, Marine, and Doug McCallister, Army, salute the flag during the pledge. (Sabrina Robertson | The Natchez Democrat)

Elmari Lewis gives the invocation. (Sabrina Robertson | The Natchez Democrat)

Adiella Keyser gives a presentation about women who have served in the military. (Sabrina Robertson | The Natchez Democrat)

Mark Vidrine told his story of how he joined the Marine Corps despite physical challenges, being short and color blind. (Sabrina Robertson | The Natchez Democrat)

Elected officials sit in the audience of the Veteran’s Day program on Thursday. (Sabrina Robertson | The Natchez Democrat)

Veterans attending the program were given floor seats, gifts and refreshments. (Sabrina Robertson | The Natchez Democrat)

Veteran Doug McCallister of Point Man International Ministries speaks Thursday at the Veteran’s Day program and Vidalia High School. (Sabrina Robertson | The Natchez Democrat)

Kayla Smedley and Landon Cowan demonstrate the proper way to fold an American Flag while Coach Nathan Mugerza describes the symbolism of each fold. (Sabrina Robertson | The Natchez Democrat)

Marine Corps veteran and Monterey native, Miranda Jones, describes the challenges she faced in service to our country. (Sabrina Robertson | The Natchez Democrat)

Marine Corps veteran and Monterey native, Miranda Jones, describes the challenges she faced in service to our country. (Sabrina Robertson | The Natchez Democrat)

Kylie Seale and Braxton Harper place a wreath to memorialize soldiers who have died. (Sabrina Robertson | The Natchez Democrat)

Caymond Riley plays “Taps.” (Sabrina Robertson | The Natchez Democrat)

A memorial to soldiers who have died. (Sabrina Robertson | The Natchez Democrat)

Landry Merritt sings “God Bless the USA” to conclude the program on Thursday. (Sabrina Robertson | The Natchez Democrat)

The JROTC of Natchez High School presents the colors while Clinton Schneider says the Pledge of Allegiance. (Sabrina Robertson | The Natchez Democrat)

The JROTC of Natchez High School stands in the Veteran’s Day program at Vidalia High School. (Sabrina Robertson | The Natchez Democrat)

A committee of students and faculty with the sponsorship of area banks hosted a Veteran’s Day program that took place Thursday in the Vidalia High School gymnasium. (Sabrina Robertson | The Natchez Democrat)

VIDALIA, La. — A program at Vidalia High School Thursday morning demonstrated how any veteran’s service, big or small, is deserving of thanks.

A committee of students and faculty with the sponsorship of area banks put together the program that took place Thursday in the gymnasium, where veterans were given priority treatment with floor seats, gifts and refreshments.

The program began with the display of service flags and a formal presentation of the colors by the Natchez High School JROTC.

Adiella Keyser, a senior from Vidalia High School, began with a presentation about women who have served in the military in some capacity throughout our nation’s 200-year history.

After graduating, Keyser will become one of those women as she has enlisted in the Air Force.

VHS teacher Mark Vidrine told his story of how he joined the Marine Corps despite physical challenges, being short and color blind.

He aspired to be like Rambo in the action movies but was told that the only job he could do was “fabric repair specialist,” which meant sewing up holes in tents.

He later received a call from a Marine recruiter and was told that the Marine Corps had no issue with his color blindness.

“I did, however, have to get a waiver because I did not meet the height requirement,” he said.

A female veteran of the Marine Corps and native of Monterey, Miranda Jones, demonstrated women’s military presence with an impactful presentation about the challenges she faced in service to our country.

“My story started as a young child watching people around me who had served in the military and looking at albums — sitting on my living room floor — of my dad in the National Guard,” she said. “I thought he was a hero, because anybody that would sacrifice themselves for our country, to me, is a hero regardless. And so, I remember sitting there thinking, I think I could do that. And I’ve always been a little girly girl, and I mean, I was ultimately girly. No tomboy in me anywhere. And I remember dreaming that one day I could do that. I could be something. But more than that, I wanted to help people.”

Jones said she dreamt of becoming a District Attorney and decided at an early age she would join the military to pay her way through college. She’d made that decision and researched it without consulting her parents, who didn’t take it lightly.

After going from rigorous basic training in Parris Island, South Carolina to military police school in Fort McClellan, Alabama, she experienced respiratory issues and was told that she couldn’t continue in the career path she’d chosen in military police.

“They break you down to a to a level that you’ve never known before, and they build you back up from scratch. They teach you confidence. They teach you to stand on your own two feet. It’s overwhelming what you can learn by being in the military, and while I know I was just a female, what I gained from that is overwhelming,” she said.

“Of course, the physical demands are huge when you’re in the military. And if you’ve never ran

five miles with 80-pound pack, then you probably should try it if you don’t really look up to these guys. It’s not an easy feat. … I had been there over a year, so I was in the best shape of my life. After going through all that … I was told that I could not be military police anymore. I wasn’t allowed to take the career that I’d chosen, the path that I wanted, and to say I was devastated is just an understatement.”

For a long time after that, whenever veterans were asked to stand and be recognized, Jones said she wouldn’t acknowledge her service until she one day saw and understood the definition of what a veteran is.

“I didn’t serve overseas. I didn’t stay in. I didn’t do the things that everybody else did. I felt like I had failed. But you see, I am a veteran,” she said. “A veteran, whether active duty, discharged or even reserved, is someone who at one point in his or her life wrote a check made payable to the United States of America. They made it payable for the amount up to and including their life. So, while my experience may be a little different … it has a resounding message. Take what you have learned from every hurdle in your life, use it, build on it and make yourself even better. No matter your race, your age or your gender, you can do anything you set your mind to.”

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