Write a commentFrederick Leighton Elementary recently invited area veterans to participate in a morning Veterans Day ceremony where they received certificates of appreciation from their children, grandchildren, faculty members, and loved ones.
Students from Oswego Middle School's Con Brio sang the National Anthem, while members of the Leighton Elementary Student Council read information about each of the branches of the United States Armed Forces.
Army National Guard Colonel Benjamin Richardson participated in a "hot seat" interview about his military service experiences.
Colonel Richardson has lived and worked in Oswego as a social studies teacher at Oswego High School since 1995. Richardson served in the New York Army National Guard beginning in 1989.
Taking a comical, lighthearted approach to the interview, Richardson shielded questions from Leighton teacher Tom Wiegand. When asked about the hardest adjustment of his initial transition into the Armed Forces, Richardson joked “keeping your mouth shut” was a crucial concept and that giving up luxury food items was a painful, yet necessary sacrifice.
Colonel Richardson was deployed to Afghanistan in 2008 as a leader of the Provincial Police Monitoring Team. He also served as the commander of the National Guard airport security detail in Rochester in 2001 following the attacks on Sept. 11th. He also commanded a force of over 500 soldiers during the National Guard’s response to Hurricane Sandy in 2013. Most recently, he served for 80 days as the Chief of Staff for the Dual Status Command during the COVID-19 crisis.
Wiegand then led a flag-folding demonstration, while closing remarks were given by Leighton Elementary Principal Stephanie Griffin.
Leighton Elementary students and faculty would like to take the time to recognize the following area veterans for their service to our country:
- United States Army: Matthew Bos, Eric Bowman, Raymond Brown, Dennis Butterfield, Ken Cisson, Hugh Cloonan, Calvin Duncan, Donald Griffiths, Jon Griffiths, David Hamilton, James Hartmann, Rocco Hollenbeck, Shayna Jones, Tim Miner, Earle Nichols (d.), Donald Parsons, Donald Reardon, Mike Sheats, Earl Smith, Jane Smith, Donald J. Wallace, Damian Williams, Wayne R. Williams
- United States Navy: Michael Brown, Raymond Brown, Richard Buck, Michael Cook, John R. Esberg, Paul Isham, Michael Kubicki, Luther Locklin, Barb Nichols (d.), Kimberly Reed, Robert Ruggio Jr., Derek Sheldon
- United States Marines: Kaylee Allen, Aaron Baxter, Earle Nichols (d.), Peter J. Otvos, Eric Recore, Steve Wilson
- United States Air Force: Stacey Acuna, Duane Arnold, Donald Muckey
- United States Coast Guard: Frank Martinez
- United States Army National Guard: Colonel Benjamin Richardson
