“I thought Veterans Day was just another day until July 23rd of this year,” you’ll hear Will Newlove tell Chief Sealth International High School students in our clip. He spoke during their Veterans Day assembly today, as a tribute to his brother Petty Officer Jarod Newlove, also a Sealth graduate, missing in Afghanistan on that day in July. He tells the story of how they got the news, first that his brother was missing – then, that he was gone. Like his brother, as you might have deduced from the uniform, he is in the US Navy. Also at the assembly, Sealth singers performed the national anthem:
(The Sealth honor choir is raising money for a once-in-a-lifetime trip – separate story on that is in the works.) Also acknowledged during the assembly, five Sealth staffers who are veterans: assistant principal Lupe Barnes, a former Army ROTC 1st lieutenant; literature teacher James MacDonald, a U.S. Army veteran whose wide-ranging experience included Operation Silent Echo, which removed short-range nuclear weapons from Europe; former MP “Jimbo” Di Obilda, now working security; and two Marine Corps veterans, DuWayne Young and Mr. Jewels. A plaque honoring 15 Sealth graduates who lost their lives in combat was presented today as well.
The actual Veterans Day is this Thursday – and Seattle Public Schools, along with many others, are closed that day.
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