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FAIRFIELD – Fairfield High School paid tribute to the area’s veterans on Veterans Day, Monday, Nov. 11, with a ceremony in the Mitcheltree-Slechta-Edgeton Auditorium.

Southeast Iowa Regional Fire Honor Guard presented the colors. The FHS Choir sang the National Anthem, and later joined the FHS Band in performing “America the Beautiful.” The band played the official song of every branch of the military, and asked veterans to stand when their branch’s song was played.

A Veterans Day tradition is the “Missing Man Table,” where a table on stage has been set for a soldier who did not come home. Everything on the table symbolizes something, such as the roundness of the table representing that concern for the missing man is never ending, a red rose in a vase representing the lives of the soldiers who keep faith while seeking answers, and a slice of lemon representing their bitter fate. Members of the National Honor Society put on this portion of the ceremony, and this year that was led by Ella Holderbaum.

The guest speaker that morning was Sgt. Kyle Green, a recruiter with the Iowa Army National Guard in Fairfield and a former member of the U.S. Marines. Green was the event’s guest speaker three years ago, and he said it was his third time overall.

Green lives in Packwood now but grew up in Bloomfield where he attended Davis County Schools. He joined the military because both his father and grandfather were in the Army, though he chose to join a different branch, the Marines. The 9/11 terrorist attacks occurred when Green was a freshman in high school, and that further solidified his desire to join the armed forces.

“It made me realize that the dream I had of being in the service was just a dream because I wasn’t putting it into action,” he said. “My history teacher called us in to watch the TV … we saw the second plane hit, and that was the day I decided I needed to put my butt in gear.”

Green spent eight years in the U.S. Marine Corps, during which he specialized as a diesel mechanic. He served in Japan and in 2007 was deployed to Iraq. Though he was headquartered in the city of Al Asad, his company went on patrols all over the country. Green left the Marines in 2013 and worked as a diesel mechanic, then joined the U.S. National Guard in 2019, and is now a recruiter in Fairfield.

During his address, Green gave a history of Veterans Day and how it began as Armistice Day to commemorate the end of World War I in 1918. He said that Veterans Day is about understanding the importance of serving a higher purpose, and that veterans put themselves in harm’s way to ensure our freedoms. He talked about how service is a mindset and a way of life.

One of the things Green stressed was to “be someone worth fighting for” by helping those in need and upholding the principles the country was founded on.

After the ceremony, Green told The Union he hoped his speech would instill patriotism in those who heard it, especially the youth. He said military recruiters across the country have noticed that recruiting is more difficult, and though participation in the Iowa National Guard has been consistent, other branches are short of their recruiting goals. Green said he’s concerned about the willingness to serve among young people.

“It’s not that kids don’t appreciate it, but I don’t think they understand that, if they don’t decide to serve, who is?” Green said. “The old guys can only carry the torch for so long. We need our youth to step up.”