Veterans have protected our rights as Americans and made it possible for the dreams of our forefathers to be possible.
Without them, there would be no life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. A middle school chorus was enjoying their meal at a pizza joint in Kansas until the moment when they saw a Navy veteran eating with his wife.
The group of 30 students had stopped at Pizza Street in Olathe on Veterans Day in November 2019 while on their way to sing at a local senior citizen’s home, according to Mission Trail Middle School chorus teacher Teresa Murray Posey.
Posey noticed the man wearing a veteran’s hat, that customer was – Roy Fred Blackburn who served in the U.S. Navy for six years and was in hospice at the time, but wanted to indulge in some pizza for Veterans Day.
Murray Posey immediately got the thought, “let’s sing to him.” So, she asked the students to sing the national anthem and they agreed without hesitation. “He was on oxygen and he stood up and took his hat off and his wife stood up,”‘ Murray Posey said.
The entire restaurant was soon on their feet, “They were crying. They were all in tears. The restaurant was in tears,” Murray Posey said. After that, the kids lined up to give Blackburn a hug.
Just three months after that emotional moment for Blackburn, he passed away in February 2020 at the age of 82 years. The kids who had left such an impact on him were asked to sing at his funeral.
For a second time, the children of Mission Trail Middle School paid tribute to the veteran who spent valuable years of his life serving the country. After he had left the U.S. Navy, Blackburn had spent over two decades as a firefighter officer in Johnson County, according to his obituary.
“They don’t realize the impact that they can have on people and I try to tell them all the time, music can impact people, you as a kid can impact people,” Murray Posey said. “And until they see it happen or feel that happen themselves, they don’t really realize it.”
Murray Posey has always reminded her students the importance of doing “something that’s positive” for others, even if it’s as simple as singing to someone. “Don’t worry about what other people are going to think,” she said.
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