History, White House Honor Veterans

President Barack Obama and Abbe Raven, CEO at History parent A&E Television Networks, kicked off the Take a Veteran to School Day initiative at the White House on Wednesday.

Veterans representing military service spanning from WWII to Afghanistan were honored at the Veterans Day Breakfast in the East Room of the White House on Veterans Day. 

After the breakfast, four of the veterans and Raven were photographed (l.) at thte White House with the president and the first lady, Michelle Obama.

Then the four veterans and executives from History went to a special assembly at the Walt Whitman Middle School in Alexandria, Va., where they shared their stories of service with students.

The four veterans are: Sgt. Renaee J. Allen (Gulf War), Col. Dennis M. Duggan (Korea and Vietnam), Capt. Koby J. Langley (Kosovo and Operation Iraqi Freedom) and Sgt. First Class Joe Sharpe (Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan).

More than 2,000 schools in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico are participating in Take a Veteran to School Day activities and events this year.

Now in its third year, the Take a Veteran to School Day national initiative connects veterans of all ages with young people, educators and local elected officials in communities nationwide.

History provides resources to more than 200,000 K-12 educators, including lesson plans, how-to guides and streaming video via a dedicated Web site.

Working with the Library of Congress Veterans History Project, students nationwide have preserved hundreds of oral histories of local veterans in their communities for future generations to learn from.