A special afternoon program hosted at Escalon High School on Wednesday, Nov. 9 welcomed in members of the Escalon American Legion Post along with veterans from the community.

Designed to provide a forum for students to learn more about Veterans Day and the sacrifices veterans and their families have made through the years, the gathering also featured the ceremonial folding of the American flag with a detailing of what each fold signifies.

Music was part of the event, as well as students having the opportunity to thank those veterans in attendance for their service.

Among those on hand was El Portal music teacher Jeremy White, SPC, who currently serves in the U.S. Army Reserve and is a musician with the 191st Army Band.

He said while he is in his 12th year overall of teaching – spending time at Great Valley Academy of Manteca, in Amador County and at Oakdale, plus the last eight yea at El Portal – becoming a member of the military was something he had been considering for years. And it happened at an unlikely time; during the COVID pandemic.

“I enlisted for the first time in 2019, in September of 2019, and then I went to basic training at Fort Jackson in South Carolina in 2020 and then I finished my school of music just this last fall, in fact about a year ago,” White explained of his journey. “For me it stemmed from growing up in that post-9-1-1 era; 9-1-1 happened when I was in high school and I had lots of friends who enlisted at that time and I always felt that calling to serve but life took me in different directions, with college and some different things and then into teaching, which is a form of service in a way, working with students and everything, but the desire and the calling I think was always there.”

It was ignited once again during a chance meeting on a bus ride, talking with a teacher from nearby Ripon, who was retired from the Air Force/Air National Guard as a bandsman.

“We got to talking, he encouraged me, and pushed me in that direction, next thing I knew I was off to basic training in 2020 and the rest is history from there,” White added.

He also is appreciative of the opportunity to be of service with his music through the Army Reserve.

“I get to use an ability, a gift that I have been given as a musician to give back to my community, to honor people who have served, whether it’s in combat or I have even played Taps for funerals of highly decorated veterans and hearing their stories, being able to be a part of honoring their stories is a huge honor and privilege for me as a musician,” said White.