MOUNT ZION - It was very quiet in Mount Zion High School's gymnasium when Brig. Gen. Stewart Reeve asked the veterans present to turn and look at the bleachers full of students.

"We used to be you," Reeve said.

A few teenagers looked disbelieving, as young people will who have yet to meet Father Time face to face.

Veterans, Reeve told the students, look no different than anyone else, but they sacrificed time, safety, comfort and home so those left behind could have those things.

"They made out a blank check to the United States of America," Reeve said, "for any amount up to and including their lives."

Mount Zion's Veterans Day assembly on Monday and took three months to plan, said Richard Hansen, who teaches advanced placement American history at the school. He wanted his students to learn the rest of the story.

"We all encounter this stuff, but people don't necessarily know the reasons behind it," Hansen said. "They know Veterans Day means we get tomorrow off of school, but do they know the reason why?"

Zach Samples, a junior who is in Hansen's class, said he found the tribute to veterans moving.

"I didn't know what I was going to get out of it until I got to the assembly," Samples said. "To see all the veterans, and realize just how much they did for us. I think of honor and service. The veterans wouldn't have done it if they didn't have honor for their country and didn't feel moved to do something. It's hard to express in words. They gave their lives to this and that's why we're here."

Later in the day, Franklin School held its own tribute to veterans. Kristin Barger's sixth-grade class prepared a musical and dramatic show for their schoolmates thanks to their interest in Barger's twin brother, Eric, a military police officer who served 15 months in Iraq and just came back to the states ? safely. He exchanged e-mails with her students during his deployment and will visit them in December so they can meet him in person.

"They've been loving e-mailing back and forth, asking all their questions and getting responses," Barger said. "It's been a wonderful experience for my students."

At Mount Zion, Brig. Gen. Reeve left the high school students with one thought about Veterans Day. He told them to go home and call or, better yet, go visit a veteran in their family.

"Veterans Day requires you to say two words not heard much in America today," Reeve said. "Thank you."

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