Nov. 11, 2018, marked the 80th anniversary of Veteran’s Day; America’s annual holiday to honor U.S. veterans and victims of war. Rockbrook Elementary hosted their annual Veteran’s Day breakfast where they honored the veterans in their community. Students from grades K-6 brought different relatives to honor their service for our country.

Garret Higginbotham, Principal of Rockbrook and coordinator of the event began planning for the event a month prior. Higginbotham said he alerted the food services to provide the breakfast, the Boy and Girl Scouts to do the flag ceremony, and the students and their parents to attend.

“It’s a lot of bringing different pieces together and [it’s] a lot of fun to do,” Higginbotham said.

Robert Cox, an Army veteran who attended the event with his granddaughter, said he loves that they are doing this at an elementary school.

“It’s thrilling to see the young people,” Cox said. “The nation is in such good hands.”

Cox was 17-years-old when he says he ‘followed the crowd and joined the Army’. Despite the challenges of having to lie about his age and surviving war in the Philippines, Cox said the Army was very good to him.

“We had good accommodations, [and] good food,” Cox said. “They took good care of us.”

Higginbotham says that he is glad to keep the tradition of this event going, and knows how much it means to the families in the community.

“It’s a real honor for me to set this up each year,” Higginbotham said. “It’s a great opportunity for us to just bring the community together.”