Edina Middle School Honors Veterans

Evans Meineke distinctly remembers the searing pain of several bullets entering his left leg and hip.

Fresh from landing at Omaha Beach with the 79th Infantry Division of the U.S. Army, Meineke said his division spent several days fighting its way into the French city of Cherbourg. Then 19 years old, Meineke said he was only 18 days into the campaign when he was shot.

"We thought we had peace at the time," Meineke recalls. "But they opened up on our artillery and they got the lot of us."

The 86-year-old Edina resident slowly inches up one leg of his khakis to reveal a faint scar just behind his left knee.

"They hit me there and then up here," he said, pointing a few inches below his waist. "I had to come out of France."

Meineke was among a handful of military veterans who turned out for a pair of Veterans Day assemblies at Valley View Middle School on Thursday, Nov. 11. The program featured performances by the school's band and choir, along with a special presentation from Lt. Col. Kent Landreth, commander of the 18th Flight Test Squadron in Hurlburt Field, Fla.

Landreth, a 1987 graduate of John F. Kennedy High School in Bloomington, explained the meaning of Veterans Day to the students and emphasized how his military experiences have impacted his life.

"All of the places I've been, experiences I've had have given me something that I've learned a little about life," Landreth said.

He encouraged students to not take the path of least resistance throughout the course of their lives, but instead to go the extra mile to do what they know is right in their hearts. A reference to the recently released video game Call of Duty: Black Ops drew excited shouts from the middle schoolers, but Landreth used the game to remind students it is not possible to just press the reset button in real life.

"Life is not a dress rehearsal," he said.

Mike Huttner, who served in the Air Force Reserve C-130s until 2010, said he was happy to see people working to "enlighten kids about all of the service of various families over the years." Huttner said his thoughts were with all of the soldiers who died in active duty.

"I have a few great uncles who are buried at Fort Snelling," Huttner said. "I visit them on Memorial Day, but I definitely think of them on Veterans Day as well."

James Pagel served with the U.S. Marine Corps in Vietnam from 1965-1966, but currently is a member of the Fort Snelling Memorial Rifle Squad. Pagel said it's "good for these kids to understand that somebody did something to secure their freedom."

Pagel paused briefly when asked what Veterans Day means to him, fighting back a rush of emotion.

"Respect for the guys and women who served our country," Pagel said, tears welling in his eyes. "I think about the guys who didn't make it, who never got to live the good life we're living."

"Today is all about paying respects for those people who aren't there."