By Jake Palmateer
GILBERTSVILLE _ Veterans Day came early in Gilbertsville on Sunday as more than 60 community members honored those who served in the military from World War II to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Among them was a Gilbertsville-Mount Upton physical-education teacher who returned from Iraq three months ago.
American Legion Post 1339 and the American Legion Post 1339 Auxiliary teamed up for a ceremony at their post on Marion Avenue.
Veterans Day is Wednesday.
"I think it's important to recognize past, present and future veterans," Post 1339 Commander Norman Eastwood said.
About two dozen veterans were given American Legion coins with an inscription thanking them for their service.
"They are putting their lives on the line to try and maintain the American way of life," Eastwood said.
One of the veterans, Army Reservist Tina Cole, returned to Otsego County in August from a yearlong tour in Iraq. And four days after coming home, she resumed her full-time job as a physical-education teacher at G-MU.
Cole, 36, gave the keynote speech for the event.
"It's quite an honor," said Cole, a master sergeant in the 403rd Civil Affairs Battalion of the Army Reserve.
In addition to her deployment to Iraq, Cole has also served in Bosnia and Afghanistan during her 17-year Army career.
Her battalion was tasked with helping civilians affected by the war. "We go there to win hearts and minds," Cole said.
Deploying to go overseas is the easy part and is what she and the other soldiers are trained to do, Cole said. "I know my job and I love my job."
But it's the time before leaving the United States that proves the most difficult, she said.
"The hardest part was when I found out and had to tell my kids, my friends, my job that again I was going to be leaving for a year and that I may not come home," Cole said.
Cole also shared details of daily life from her time in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"The thing that really meant a lot to me while I was gone was getting something from a home _ an e-mail, a package," Cole said.
Among these was a package of photos and drawings from the school district's elementary students that Cole used to decorate her office at Camp Liberty in Iraq.
"There wasn't a person who came to see me that didn't know I was a teacher," Cole said.
Cole said the biggest thing she learned from her deployments was to not take anything for granted.
"Our school community is very proud of Tina," G-MU Superintendent Glenn Hamilton said.
Auxiliary President Anne Sebeck served as the master of ceremonies for the event, and about a dozen Boy Scouts of Troop 44, which is sponsored by Post 1339, performed color-guard duties.
A series of speakers included Gilbertsville Mayor Shirley Musson, the Legion Auxiliary's Girls State representative Jacqulyn Schaub and the Legion's Boys State representative Joseph Acanfora.
The Legion and Legion Auxiliary's state representatives programs are designed to give young people a chance to learn about citizenship and government.
Acanfora, 17-year-old member of Troop 44, said veterans, whether they enlisted or were drafted, often sacrificed while their peers who didn't serve were able to continue living a normal American life.
"Their biggest problem may have been finding a date on Friday night," Acanfora said.
Acanfora then spoke directly to the veterans: "No bill passed by Congress will ever give you those years of your life back."
