GREENVILLE HIGH SCHOOL Mayor suggests vets bow out of ceremony

The mayor, a veteran himself, thinks the ceremony should be held elsewhere.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
GREENVILLE, Pa. -- Local veterans aren't sure they want to participate in a Veterans Day ceremony Nov. 11 at Greenville High School.
A partial ban on religious references related to the program has prompted Mayor Clifford Harriger, a veteran who was arranging the ceremony, to suggest that the Greenville Veterans Council hold its activity elsewhere.
The ceremony is normally held at the American Legion, but the veterans wanted to hold it at the school this year to give students a chance to meet and speak with those who have served in the military.
Harriger said he was irritated when school officials told him there could be no references to God or Jesus in any prayers and that a proposed 21-shot, rifle volley fired to honor the fallen was not permitted on school property.
The words under God found in the Pledge of Allegiance and the song "God Bless America" would be acceptable, he said.
Superitendent Dr. Patricia Homer said the district isn't being quite as hard-nosed as Harriger believes.
The district is still planning its own program and wants the veterans to participate, she said.
The district isn't saying the veterans can't mention God, but any presentation of a religious nature must be done in an ecumenical manner to represent all faiths found among the students.
"We mention God all the time in schools in different ways," Homer said.
Restrictions
However, schools are banned from having organized prayers in school, unless they are organized by pupils on their own, and the veterans would be asked not to offer prayers during the ceremony, she said.
Perhaps a moment of silence would be more appropriate, she said, adding that the school views this as a patriotic program, not a religious ceremony.
The 21-shot salute is definitely out, Homer said, explaining, "We don't allow weapons on school property."
Harriger said he thinks the school district is afraid of a challenge by the American Civil Liberties Union if it allows the mention of God in a program.
"I don't think the ACLU should tell me how to live," Harriger said, adding that he doesn't think the veterans should participate in the school's program.
That decision will have to be made by the veterans council, which meets Monday night, he said.