By Natalie Bazinet
Staff Writer
LIMESTONE — For the second consecutive year, the Loring Defenders have invited on-center veterans to lunch today to show appreciation and honor their efforts. Loring Defender instructor Roger Felix estimates that about 20 veterans of the faculty and staff as well as one veteran student will attend the event.
While the extra-curricular group Loring Defenders (also known as the Honor Guard) at the Loring Job Corps Center is known for their respect for the flag and those who served to defend the freedoms that flag represents, the group is not affiliated with the military; the goal of the program is not to build soldiers or to encourage young men and women to enlist. Under the instruction of veteran Felix, students from 16 to 25 years old learn similar customs and courtesies of enlisted military personnel to build leadership and instill in them the values and traits that help facilitate success through the center’s educational options.
Lessons are often taught through after-the-fact reviews that identify both positives and negatives with a little bit of humor thrown in for good measure “because you can’t screw everything up,” Felix said. Since Felix’s involvement with the Loring Defenders, participation has soared with students benefiting from the program by gaining self esteem, discipline, solid friendships — many students have even lost upwards of 50 pounds through the exercise.
Through the structure and camaraderie of the program emerges the unofficial leaders on campus that fellow students can turn to and instructors can depend on.
Along the way on their Honor Guard journey — an “unintended consequence” Felix called it —Defenders have gained a new or increased sense of respect and appreciation toward those who served in the military and protected the country. It’s said that the biggest gift one can give a veteran is thanks, but the Defenders have decided to go a little further in honoring those who served.
Defenders will be participating in acts of honor and respect throughout the luncheon including the setting of a missing man table, a ceremonious folding of the flag and the recitation of a poem that commemorates soldiers’ honor.
“It’s important to acknowledge that veterans have done service for our country and they’ve risked their lives to save ours,” said 18-year-old Job Cops student Evan Leno, who recently joined the Army himself.
“You can learn more from a veteran that you can learn in a history book,” added Job Corp student Keith Martin, 24, who also recently joined the Army.
Some veteran staff members have become like family to Martin and he’s been able to learn from the knowledge they’ve shared — what he calls “walking history.”
Martin and Leno are both scheduled to begin their military service within a few months.
Aside from the life lessons Honor Guards are taught — like being tolerant of the different religions and cultures held by their peers — students learn the intricate details of how to march and salute correctly; these skills have been seen in communities throughout central Aroostook County in parades, ceremonies and events where the Defenders have served as color guards.
But some Defenders are a bit nervous about performing during today’s luncheon because an improper salute or misplaced step — which more than likely wouldn’t be noticed by a strictly civilian audience — will be quite apparent to a group of men and women who’ve served.
Student Daniel Baker, 20, is excited to be able to honor the center’s veterans during the luncheon, but he admitted that participating in such an official ceremony is a bit nerve-wracking.
“They’ll know if we’ve made a mistake,” agreed student Ray Hughes, 20. Nerves aside, Hughes had never met a veteran before coming to the Loring Job Corps Center and is looking forward to having an opportunity to extend his thanks and appreciation for their service.
Baker has met a few World War II veterans before but feels that the luncheon is necessary “to honor the people who’ve defended the country.”
Baker is a proud member of the Honor Guard with a high level of respect for veterans and ambitions of joining the Navy, but he can remember a time when he was younger when he didn’t recite the pledge. He’s learned over the years the pledge’s importance and now it bothers him when people choose not to recite it.
Honor Guards interact with their celebrated luncheon guests on a daily basis and their respectful nature of interaction is quite commonplace.
“They don’t consider themselves extraordinary; they see themselves as just average people,” Martin said.
The Loring Job Corps veterans may see themselves as just average, but the average day-to-day will put on hold this afternoon while the students officially honor the service of those who work on the center.
As Baker says, “It’s their day.”
