Hanson students to honor veterans in parade

ALEXANDRIA — With at least a dozen Hanson School alumni or Alexandria residents currently serving in the military overseas, Jim Bridge decided that the eighth anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks would be an ideal time honor to those serving their country.

It’s also a chance to pay tribute to other area veterans, including Staff Sgt. Greg Wagner, a Mitchell resident and former Hanson School student who was killed in Iraq in 2006.

“We’re trying to make it a little bit of a … remembrance but yet also celebrate our freedom and recognize those who are serving,” said Bridge, superintendent of Hanson School.

The school will host a parade at 1 p.m. today in Alexandria, featuring the Wagner family as parade marshals.

Bridge and others are also working on a plan to raise money to send at least one World War II veteran on an Honor Flight, which takes veterans on a two-day trip to Washington to tour the World War II Memorial.

“We just figured it’s another way to encompass not just the more recent kids that are involved but the past, going … back as far as World War II,” Bridge said.

Today’s parade is meant to honor veterans and capture a spirit of patriotism that Bridge said is especially important on the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

The response from students and community members has been positive, said Bridge, who once was a teacher of Wagner’s.

“We’ve sent kids over there for years and years,” Bridge said. “One of them didn’t come home, so we know how that feels.”

Bridge said the anniversary and parade will offer a chance for residents and attendees to reflect on the sacrifice of both past and active members of the military.

“A person gets hung up in scores and games and wins and losses,” Bridge said. “Really, they’re pretty trivial when you think of what these guys have done.”

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