Hayfield pays tribute singing original song
Published 10:09 am Friday, November 10, 2017
- Hayfield students go through a line and shake hands with veterans during a Veterans Day program Thursday morning at Hayfield High School. Photos by Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Hayfield students paid tribute to veterans on Thursday, in two different events that not only saluted service by veterans, it also honored a patriotic song written by one of its own.
Guest speaker at both assemblies was Hayfield instructor Vince Reynolds, who is also a gunnery sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps. He was deployed six times, serving in 20 countries on five continents, he said, over his 18 years in the service.
“They were some of the greatest times in my life,” he said.
The 1986 Hayfield High School graduate said when he returned from action in Desert Storm in the 1990s, he and other Marines were greeted back home with enthusiasm.
Hayfield Elementary students sing the song “My Name is American,” an original song written by Hayfield graduate Kurt Orning, Thursday morning during a Veterans Day program.
He said Vietnam War veterans were not so lucky.
He said Vietnam War veterans were not so lucky.
“When they came home, they were spit on; when I came home, I got a ticker tape parade down Constitution Avenue,” he said.
He urged students to understand that no matter what the war, won or lost, veterans have followed orders and served their country.
Times have changed, but no matter when someone has served, they deserve our thanks, he said.
“When you see a veteran, thank them for their service, thank them for their sacrifice.”
Hayfield Elementary students sing the song “My Name is American,” an original song written by Hayfield graduate Kurt Orning, Thursday morning during a Veterans Day program.
A highlight of the day was the tribute to another of Hayfield’s own. The elementary students, directed by Liz Fjerstad, sang, “My Name is America,” written by Hayfield High School graduate, Kurt Orning.
Orning, a retired elementary teacher, wrote the song and has had more than a million views on YouTube and was No. 1 on the IndieWorld Country Chart in 2012.
Fjerstad said Orning came to the classroom when the children first began to learn the song, “which they thought was awesome,” said Fjerstad after the event. “He talked about why he wrote the song, and its meaning.”
Hayfield music teacher directs elementary students as they sing the song “My Name is America,” Thursday morning.
Fjerstad said Orning told the class the song was inspired by the Statue of Liberty.
In part, the song says:
“Because my name is America,
I stand proud and free,
My name is America,
Don’t tread on me.
I cannot be broken,
I cannot be shamed,
Hurt me, I get stronger,
and I rise up from the flames.”
On Thursday, over 200 young voices sang the song, to a hearty round of applause.
After each presentation, students shook the hand of each veteran that attended as part of the ceremony or Honor Guard.
