KALISPELL — The gymnasium was full at Peterson Elementary in Kalispell on Monday morning as students and their families honored our nation's veterans.
“I think that I can speak for all the veterans here that we’re definitely appreciative of that and really happy to see the kids doing that,” said U.S. Marine Corps veteran Cole Skorka.
Skorka — whose daughter Maddison is a fourth grade student at Peterson Elementary School — served in the U.S. Marines from 2011 to 2022.
“You know it’s really great to see the appreciation for veterans especially here at the elementary school level, and you know it’s important for kids to understand what being a veteran is,” said Skorka.
Students sang songs to a crowd full of veterans and listened to a presentation from U.S. Air Force Veteran Cheryl Mellencamp about the importance of sacrificing for a mission bigger than yourself.
“It’s very important that you have this younger generation be able to see the older generation and come together to appreciate each other,” said U.S. Marine Corps veteran Cameron Wride who now works for the Kalispell Police Department.
Wride's dad is a U.S. Army veteran, and his daughter served in the U.S. Air Force.
He said honoring veterans brings communities together and helps make them stronger.
“I think it’s very important to understand each other and to really look at each other, old and young, military, not in the military, law enforcement, not in the law enforcement and just try to bring everybody back together.”
