Honoring veterans

Staff Sergeant Mark Durbin of Adrian Mo. speaks to the crowd gathered at the veteran's memorial on the Nevada Square for a joint VFW and American Legion veteran's recognition ceremony Wed. Nov. 11. Durbin is attached to the 140th RTI Training and Evaluation Battalion at Camp Clark and "trains soldiers for war." Durbin told the crowd, "I learned the hard way that duty, honor and country are what matter most in my life." He charged the veterans in attendance to welcome home a returning veteran and to acknowledge the ones already home and to use their "service experience to set the example for the next generation." --Photos by Rusty Murry and Steve Moyer/Daily Mail

A Nevada High School assembly features a rendition of "It's a Grand Old Flag."

Staff Sergeant Brian Nuding fields some questions from students during the veteran's assembly held at Sheldon High School on Wednesday, Nov. 11. Nuding is a 2001 graduate of Sheldon High School and is stationed at Camp Clark as part of A Company of the 311th Aviation Support Battalion. Nuding told students, faculty, veterans and guests that he had been deployed three times including an 11 month tour in Iraq where he "had some of the best times and some of the worst times of my life there." Nuding encouraged students to "Be proud of the country we live in ... stand proud, stand tall and remember all the veterans that paved the way to freedom." Attending veterans were invited to stay for coffee and cookies after the assembly.