Pancakes & Handshakes for Veterans at Studebaker
Pancakes, handshakes and smiles greeted veterans and service members today at Studebaker Elementary School.
The sign in the front lawn was just a hint at what was in store this morning at Studebaker Elementary School. It read simply: Thank You Veterans.
The overflowing parking lot was another clue.
Inside were pancakes and handshakes and lots of musical salutes to vets from all branches of military service. Ambient music ran to selections like “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy.” The live entertainment was still to come. Walls were lined with thank you cards that read as sweet as the syrup pouring freely during the breakfast served before school.
That was followed by an assembly which was practically an exercise in close order drill as hundreds of students marched through the hallways by grade level and fell in for the spirited celebration.
Each of the guests of honor had the chance to introduce themselves individually to the crowd. Many of them sported ball caps emblazoned with their branch of service, casual remnants of the full uniforms they formerly wore. And most of them were there because they have a very personal connection to Studebaker.
Bob Lohrman and his wife, Doris, have two granddaughters who are students there. Third grader Regan Cox and her cousin, 2nd grader Mackenzie Lohrman, sat on grandma’s and grandpa’s knees during the assembly, the best seats in the house.
Bob Lohrman served in the Marine Corps during the Viet Nam era after graduating from Lincoln High School in 1962. He later logged a 28-year career in the Des Moines Police Department. And now he’s a member of the Patriot Guard. The group provides an honor guard at military burials and fills out the ranks at burials of indigent and homeless veterans. In addition to attending funerals, the PG also greets troops returning from overseas at homecoming celebrations and is there for sendoffs when troops leave for active duty deployments overseas.
The organization is open to anyone with “a deep respect for those who serve our country,” including members’ grandkids. Lohrman’s have accompanied him on Patriot Guard assignments many times. He and Doris appreciate that military service is recognized at Regan’s and Mackenzie’s school. They sense a renewed admiration for that sort of sacrifice that wasn’t always the case when Bob served.
“The expression of gratitude for Viet Nam vets was kind of delayed,” he said. “But it’s great to see this sort of thing going on in the schools today.”
Nodding, Doris commented that she thinks, “Kids are naturally curious about the sacrifices made by their parents and grandparents before them.”
The theme for the event was summed up in a reader’s theater performed by the Studebaker Student Council: “You served us, now let us serve you.”
And so they did, whether by pancake, in song or with a grateful handshake as the students made their ways back to class through a tunnel of smiling old soldiers.
