Fairfield salutes those who served on Veterans Day

FAIRFIELD - Fairfield High School's auditorium was packed Monday morning, Nov. 11, for a Veterans Day program.

In attendance were high school students and eighth-graders who came from Fairfield Middle School, as well as a few dozen veterans, who were recognized during the ceremony.

FHS's band, under the direction of Jim Edgeton, sat in the rafters and played patriotic music, including the songs representing each branch of the military. When the band played a particular branch's song, master of ceremonies and Sgt. 1st Class (Ret.) Jim Salts asked the veterans of that branch to stand and be recognized.

In addition to the band, other musical accompaniment came from the high school's Vox choir and concert choir, under the direction of Zach Reiter, which sang 'Battle Hymn of the Republic.”

The featured speaker of the day was Sgt. Maj. Brent Krumboltz, a 1987 graduate of FHS. Salts remarked in his introduction of Krumboltz that the young man joined the 34th Army Band as a trombonist when he was still in high school. Krumboltz later transferred to Camp Dodge in 2015 to become a support operations non-commissioned officer in charge of the 1034th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion.

In June 2018, Krumboltz was deployed to Kandahar, Afghanistan, where he served until April of this year. Less than a month ago, Krumboltz was promoted to his current position of Sergeant Major. Krumboltz married his wife Mindy in 2000, and the couple have two children, Raegan and Brock. Krumboltz is the president of Investment Center of America in Beardstown, Illinois, and drove three hours to speak at Monday's ceremony.

Krumboltz said he delivered a Veterans Day speech on Friday in Beardstown, where he was introduced by his daughter, a senior in high school.

'This is probably the only other place in America where I could give a speech and not worry about the person introducing me mispronouncing my name,” Krumboltz joked.

Krumboltz said he has 'fond and cold” memories of Veterans Day in Fairfield. The town used to hold a parade on Veterans Day.

'That was my first experience with Veterans Day in the 34th Army Band,” Krumboltz said, whereupon he turned to the rafters and said, 'Band members, be thankful you are sitting in a chair in good conditions and that your valves and your slide aren't frozen.”

Krumboltz told the crowd it's important to remember the difference between Veterans Day and Memorial Day.

'Memorial Day honors our service members who gave their lives while serving their country,” he said. 'These individuals paid the ultimate sacrifice with their life. Veterans Day recognizes service members fortunate enough to return home from deployments to their family and friends.”

Krumboltz recounted the history of Veterans Day, which began as Armistice Day to mark the end of World War I on Nov. 11, 1918. After World War II and the Korean War, U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower renamed the occasion Veterans Day in 1954 to honor veterans of all conflicts.

'Veterans returned home and often said they'd just been doing their jobs, or they didn't talk about their service at all,” Krumboltz said. 'Yet they knew the stakes of the fight they had been in, and the magnitude of what they had achieved.”

Before hearing from Krumboltz, the choir and the band, the audience was treated to a series of talks from three FHS students who had gone to the American Legion Auxiliary's Girls State. The three students were Megan Higgins, Devika Pharasi and Pari Nayak. Higgins spoke about getting to meet Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, who talked to her about the importance of getting women into leadership roles. Pharasi said the girls heard from Iowa Rep. Joe Mitchell, who spoke at the event.

All three girls talked about the 'campaigns” they ran for various races at the camp, such as for governor or lieutenant governor. Nayak remarked that, even though she didn't win the position she hoped for, the experience taught her the value of hard work and perseverance.

Fairfield's annual Veterans Day program is sponsored by American Legion Post 47 in conjunction with Fairfield High School staff and student body.