<p><strong>T</strong>he military gave him an opportunity to have a variety of experiences.</p>
<p>Sgt. First Class Andrew Schnieders was in his middle 30s before he joined the armed services. He has been deployed to Iraq and taught music at a central Indiana high school. The Indiana National Guardsman credited his service to a diverse career that allowed him to fly Black Hawk helicopters, become a heavy equipment engineer and helped him in his civilian careers as a professional musician and music teacher at Avon High School.</p>
<p>Speaking in front of 800 students at Franklin Community Middle School and hundreds of community members at the school’s annual Veteran’s Day event, Schnieders encouraged people to hold a door for a veteran, flash them a smile and open their hearts and minds to the veterans’ experiences.</p>[sc:text-divider text-divider-title="Story continues below gallery" ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery
<p>The U.S. Department of Justice is one of the world’s biggest and most diverse employers and everyone who has signed up to serve in the military deserves recognition on Veteran’s Day, he said. The soldiers, Marine Corps members, sailors, airmen and Coast Guard members deserve to be thanked for their service.</p>
<p>America has flaws, but it remains a special place in this world, Schnieders said.</p>
<p>“This is still one of the greatest places to live,” he said.</p>
<p>Veterans in the community were treated to a breakfast before the annual Veteran’s Day event at the middle school. The school’s band and choir honored those who had served by playing the “Armed Forces Salute,” and singing “America the Beautiful.”</p>
<p>Four students who won a school-wide poetry contest in advance of the program read their works of art during the presentation. Through their poetry, Ben Anderson, Laura Hendrickson, Cecelia Wuertz and Maya Alvey thanked veterans for their determination, bravery and the sacrifice they made by serving.</p>
<p>Shawn Grider, a Franklin Community Middle School student, played “Taps” to wrap up the program after a slideshow of service men and women in uniform played over three songs.</p>
<p>Part of Schnieders’ message to the hundreds gathered was that Veteran’s Day has its roots 100 years ago, when World War I ended. The first world war was supposed to be the end of all wars.</p>
<p>The first Veteran’s Day, then coined Armistice Day, did not signal the end of war and millions of United States citizens have answered the call to spread democracy and keep America safe since that first celebration of veterans in November 1919.</p>
<p>“There is still great evil in this world, but it doesn’t stop us from answering the call,” Schnieders said.</p>
<p>Some veterans cannot talk about what they went through in their time of the service, and students and community members should take care to thank them for their service and to try to understand what they went through, he said.</p>
<p>“War is not a video game.”</p>
