Cheers erupted at Baypoint Preparatory Academy in San Marcos on Friday when veterans from World War II and the Korean and Vietnam wars walked into the assembly hall.
It was a special Veterans Day assembly to honor those who served the country.
Many veterans there said they were doing their patriotic duty. They wanted to share their experience so that history wouldn’t repeat itself, especially with the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.
Korean War veteran Tom Crosby was 8 years old when World War II broke out. He spent three years in a POW camp in the Philippines with his parents, so he knows firsthand the horror of war.
Crosby said he was seeing the saber-rattling of war again.
"I want to share when I was 8 and 11 what I went through," he said. "The message is pretty much the same. ... We want them to remember the wars. We don't want them to think bad, bad things in our lives or in the future. ... And the history repeats itself all the time. It starts to get bad before the wars and saber-rattling, etc., etc. ... It's not good, but sharing it with the kids, I think, is really important."
It was the same for 101-year-old Randy Tidmore, a veteran of World War II. She's worried about this generation with the fighting in Gaza.
"We're on the verge of it again, and it's almost like it was before," Tidmore said. "I just hope they don't have to go through it.”
Lisl Budfuloski, an academic coach at Baypoint, opened the assembly by thanking the veterans for their service. The assembly also included active-duty servicemembers.
"Each one of you has played a vital role in shaping the history of our country, contributing to the freedoms we cherish," she said. "Your sacrifices have not gone unnoticed."
The event was held in conjunction with Honor Flight San Diego, which flies veterans to Washington, D.C., to visit the memorials dedicated to their service.
