Op-Ed: Veterans Day Song Composed by Middlebrook Students Demonstrates Impact of In-School Observance

This op-ed was contributed by Stephen Hudspeth.

For many school districts, Veterans Day is taken off as a holiday from school. Not so, though, for our Wilton Public Schools. For our schools, Veterans Day is a day of regular schoolwork for sure, but also of special observance.

As Wilton resident Artie DiRocco said in an article in GMW this past Friday, “Memorial Day is the day we memorialize the soldiers, sailors and airmen who paid the ultimate price with their lives…  Veterans Day is the opportunity to recognize people who volunteer to put their lives on hold so that others can enjoy their freedom. It’s the opportunity to say thank you to them once a year.”

For the better part of a dozen years, the Veterans Day observance at Middlebrook Middle School has been a particularly impressive one. It’s different each year in significant ways. However, each year it also includes a recounting of how Veterans Day grew out of Armistice Day marking the anniversary of the ending of World War I. It also includes a moving echoing-bugles playing of taps by student musicians and stirring performances by the 45-member Middlebrook Singers directed by instructional leader Janet Nobles and the 10-member Middlebrook Flute Ensemble led by faculty member Jenny Ginsberg.

A key portion of each year’s observance is a video prepared by faculty member Dr. John Priest offering photos of veterans who are relatives of the Middlebrook community’s students, faculty, administrators and staff. The video also features beautiful introductory montages laced with reflections that include, “Our liberty is something we hold dear… With grateful hearts, we say thank you for your service to our freedom.”

And this year there was something extra that was truly extraordinary: a composition created by the newly formed Middlebrook Songwriters Club, led by faculty member Francesca Gray and composed of 16 students from the eighth, seventh and sixth grades. These students’ composition is stirring and evocative, and their lyrics touch the heart. The work, entitled “Thank You for Your Service,” was performed beautifully by Luke Constance on cello, Sophie Wang on keyboard, and soloists Anshika Saagi and Angela Varghese joined by the Middlebrook Singers.

The students’ lyrics include these words:

“There was power in your march and a firmness in your steps.
The people you protected from these conflicts so complex.
Sculpting history from your bravery, from your bravery we still stand…
Thank you for your service, thanks for all that you have loved,
All that you have seen, let the soldiers march on.”

The work was created by students Aidan Sardana, Ishanvi Jaiswal, Yihan Luo, Parker Pettibone, Anshika Saagi, Luke Constance, Kiara Suri, Ruyue Zheng, Sophie Wang, Harper Crawford, Lea DeBernardis, Elaine Geng, Gopika Kaimal, Willa Rondeau, Roselany Vargas-Kelley, and Angela Varghese.

Their surnames reflect the diversity in background of our students, and the richness of these students’ work highlights how much they are learning and accomplishing in our schools — something of which we can all be proud, on Veterans Day and throughout the year.

Thank You For Your Service
By Middlebrook Songwriters 2022

★★★★★
Aidan Sardana

★★★★
Ishanvi Jaiswal
Yihan Luo
Parker Pettibone
Anshika Saagi (solo 2)

★★★
Luke Constance (cello)
Kiara Suri (soprano section leader)
Ruyue Zheng

★★
Sophie Wang (piano)

★
Harper Crawford
Lea DeBernardis
Elaine Geng
Gopika Kaimal (soprano section leader)
Willa Rondeau
Roselany Vargas-Kelley
Angela Varghese (solo 1)

(Lyrics)

I remember the flowing emblem, made of red, white, and blue,
and the troops marching proudly, the last time I saw you.
I heard the anthem playing and I never understood,
the reason that our flag still stands, you did everything you could.

And the sky was red (faded red, faded red, faded red),
How could I ever forget? (Red)

Thank you for your service, thanks for all that you have done,
all you have achieved, let the war now be won.
Thank you for your service, thanks for all that you have loved,
All that you have seen, let the soldiers march on.

Your letters unforgotten, that you wrote so carefully.
Remains of what we have now, I’ll cherish the memories.
The clothes still in our closet, your shoes kept by the door.
Purple hearts and golden stars can’t replace you forever more.

And the sky was blue (deep dark blue, deep dark blue, deep dark blue),
How could I hold on to you? (Blue)

Thank you for your service, thanks for all that you have done,
all you have achieved, let the war now be won.
Thank you for your service, thanks for all that you have loved,
All that you have seen, let the soldiers march on.
(let the soldiers march on, let the soldiers march on)

There was power in your march and a firmness in your steps.
The people you protected from these conflicts so complex.
Sculpting history from your bravery, from your bravery we still stand.

(and the sky was red, how could I ever forget?)
Facing hardship, facing ruin, facing violence from our land.

Thank you for your service, thanks for all that you have done,
all you have achieved, let the war now be won.
Thank you for your service, thanks for all that you have loved,
All that you have seen, let the soldiers march on.
Thank you for your service, thanks for all that you have done,
all you have achieved, let the war now be won.
Thank you for your service, thanks for all that you have loved,
All that you have seen, let the soldiers march on.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you
(let the soldiers march on, let the soldiers march on)

(And the sky was blue.)
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you