Oskaloosa High School’s Student Council paid tribute to America’s veterans Monday (11/12). There was an assembly in the main gym where local veterans were invited to attend. The Band Steele also performed. Army Specialist 1st Class Steve Swank spoke about his trip earlier this year on an Honor Flight to Washington, D.C. Swank said the welcome he and his fellow veterans received when they returned to Cedar Rapids was overwhelming—and a far different welcome than he got when he came home from serving in Vietnam.
“We were called names, spit on. We had to fight to get in and out of the (airport and train) terminals. And this welcome made up for all of that. It was just a wonderful thing.”
Swank reminded everyone that “Freedom isn’t free…and we need to remember that.”
