OPERATION RECOGNITION

MAY 29, 2001

OPERATION RECOGNITION IS A PROGRAM THAT ALLOWS VETERANS OF WWII AND THE KOREAN WAR TO RECEIVE THEIR HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMAS. STUDENTS OF THE PARTICIPATING HIGH SCHOOLS ORGANIZE AND RECRUIT VETERANS FOR THE CEREMONY, USUALLY HELD AROUND LATE MAY. THE CEREMONY ACTS AS THE GRADUATION THAT THESE MEN AND WOMEN NEVER HAD A CHANCE TO EXPERIENCE. IT IS A DAY TO HONOR AND RESPECT THESE GREAT HEROS WHO MADE SACRIFICES TO DEFEND OUR COUNTRY AND RISK THEIR LIVES.

In Flanders Fields
by Major John McCrae

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below
We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

PAST & PRESENT GRADUATES