Veterans’ stories were brought to life during Veteran’s Day for students at Mahomet-Seymour High School and Mahomet-Seymour Junior.
After MSHS students read poems, Captain David Tanner told a gymnasium filled with students that Veterans and military service men and women were just like everyone else.
Growing up in small town, Tanner recalled seeing a neighbor, who served in the Spanish-American War beam with pride when he was able to participate in the Veterans Day parade.
Tanner, whose grandfather helped build parts of the Pentagon, and whose father and four uncles served in Vietnam war said his family was a military family although no one actively served while he was a child.
He said his family “valued service, showed patriotism, set goals and worked hard. By the time Tanner was a teenager, he worked in the fields and at a local grocery store. He said these opportunities prepared him for a life of service.
“It was always in my heart that I wanted to serve,” he told students.
As the oldest child, who was also smart, Tanner was sent to college where he earned four degrees. Because military service continued to call him, he joined the military, serving in Operation Enduring Freedom for 12 months.
Although the hot desert sand was not something he enjoyed, Tanner said he would gladly go back to the Middle East to serve with his brothers and sisters in arms, if called upon to do so.
“I served with some of the greatest Americans,” Tanner said.
He told students that Veterans are just like the rest of Americans; people who work hard and often make mistakes. But he told them that Veterans are also special because they “stepped forward and did something special.”
Tanner encouraged students to consider learning more about military service, but he also said days like Veterans Day are special because giving Veterans encouragement, a smile, a handshake or donations to charitable organizations that help Veterans are also great ways to help.
“Together we make the whole greater than the sum of its part,” Tanner said.
Mahomet graduate Captain Jennifer Soderlind also shared her story of service with students at Mahomet-Seymour Junior High School during the afternoon hours.
Soderlind knew she wanted to go into military service as an eighth-grade student at Mahomet-Seymour Junior High. After viewing a West Point brochure on a Language Arts teacher’s desk, Soderlind said she knew she’d have to work hard to be considered as a West Point applicant.
“It’s never too early to make decisions that will set you up for success in the future,” Soderlind said.
After graduation, she became a lieutenant in the Army 101st and served in Baghdad. Last year, Soderlind took a job at Kraft, moved back to her hometown of Mahomet and then joined the Illinois National Guard in Springfield because she wasn’t sure she was ready to “take the uniform off yet.”
Soderlind said her greatest accomplishments are graduating from the United States Military Academy and coming home with all of her team after her 15-month deployment.
“Every Veterans Day I get a lot of thank yous, and I appreciate that so much,” she said. “But it’s me who is truly grateful. No experience will ever compare to what the Army has given to me. I would not be the person I am without my family, the Armed Forces and this great country.”
