Special program planned here for Veterans Day

LAUREL — Area residents are invited to attend a community Veterans Day program Friday at 9 a.m. at Laurel-Concord-Coleridge School.

LCC Student Council President Jackson Hall will give the welcome for the program.

The Presentation of the Colors will then be held by the Laurel American Legion and VFW.

The LCC band will then perform the national anthem and “The Unknown Soldier ” arranged by James Ployhar and the LCC choir will sing “O, America!”

Third- and fourth-graders will sing “American Heart,” before LCC Student Council Vice President Carter Korth introduces the day’s speaker, Robert “Bud” Neel of Wayne.

Neel enlisted in the Marines in 1973, serving in active duty until 1977. He was in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve/NAS of Memphis, Tenn., from 1977-83.

He then served in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve in Omaha from 1985-96 and in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve at Camp Pendleton, Calif., from 1996-99, before retiring after 26 years of service.

Neel also worked for the Nebraska State Patrol, retiring in 2003 after a 20-year career.

He is a lifetime member of AmVets Post 22 in Wayne and has belonged to Roy Reed Post 252 in Winside for 42 years. He is also a member of the Wayne Eagles Aerie 3757, and served as adjutant to the Wayne County Veterans Memorial Committee and as adjutant and as alternate national executive committeeman of the Sons of the American Legion. He has also served on the State American Legion Baseball Area “A” Committee.