The following Veterans Day play was written by Ms. Maggi Call, a Title 1 teacher at Dunleith Elementary School, Marietta City Schools, Marietta, Georgia.

Introduction: The following is a presentation set in a school media center

where fifth grade students have been sent to do a research project on

veterans and the Veterans Day holiday.

Setting: Table in Media Center

Student 1: Hey, did you bring your markers and paper?

Student 2: Yes. I have everything we'll need for our pictures and drawings.

Student 1: What are we going to draw?

Student 2: Silly! You know we're here to research veterans and the Veterans Day Holiday on November 11th.

Student 3: How do I draw a veteran? I don't even know what it is.

Student 4: A veteran is a "who" and not a "what." You'd better start by going to the dictionary and looking up the definition of a "veteran."

Student 3: What do you mean a veteran is a who?

Student 1: Go look it up! We can use the definition in our project!

Student 3: Is a veteran a person?

Student 2: Go look it up in the dictionary!

Student 3: All right! All right! (Student 3 pages through dictionary.) Here it is, "A veteran is a person who has served in the armed forces, an experienced soldier, especially one who served in time of war." And, "Veterans Day is a legal holiday in the United States honoring all veterans of the armed forces."

Student 1: See, a veteran isn't a "what," it's a person who died for our country. They're the ones that get flags put on their graves on holidays.

Student 4: No! No! No! A veteran isn't always someone who died in a war, or who even fought in a war at all.

Student 3: She's right. A veteran is a man who has served in the Army, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard, or Air Force.

Student 4: Well, you're half right.

Student 2: What do you mean I'm "half right"?

Student 4: Well, women can be veterans too. Many women have served our country in the armed forces in times of peace and in times of war. Women can be veterans too.

Student 3: You mean a veteran doesn't have to have been in a war?

Student 1: No. Just having been in the armed forces makes a person a veteran.

Student 2: Wow! Veterans are really special people aren't they? I mean, if a person is in the armed forces and we have a war then they have to go. Right?

Student 4: No, not really. Veterans are people who have already served, but are no longer in the armed forces of our country. My grandfather is a veteran. He was in the Korean War, and my uncle Jake is a veteran too because he was in the Navy.

Student 3: You know, veterans really are special people and they deserve to be honored with a holiday.

Student 1: There are a lot of patriotic songs that honor veterans and our country. Maybe we could include a song with our project.

Student 2: I think there's a song book over here that has all the words to patriotic songs.

Student 4: Great! Let's pick out one that everybody can sing along with.

Student 3: Veterans Day would be a good time to remember and to thank veterans for all they have done for us and for our country.

Finale: A patriotic song, such as The National Anthem, God Bless America, America the Beautiful, or God Bless the U.S.A., is performed by the actors or an assembled group of students. The rest of the students also may be encouraged to sing along.

The End