For the first time in many years, Malad High School held a Veterans’ Day program for all students of both the high school and middle school. Because of a conflict with a ball game in the evening, the program was held in the morning of Thursday, November 9, in the high school gym.

Student body President Brynlee Bastian introduced the program, which began with the Malad High School Band playing “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Mr. Michael Corbett, Principal of Malad High School, then gave a short talk about flag etiquette, reminding everyone that they should remain at attention with hands over hearts until the flag in the high school gym has been rolled up. The Malad High School Chorus then performed “A Song for Unsung Heroes.”

Brynlee Bastian gave a short talk about why and how to honor veterans, including thanking them for their service and asking them in which branch of the military they served. She then introduced the guest speaker, who was Russell Davies of Pocatello, Idaho. When just 18 years old, Russell joined the United States Army and served in Iran and Afghanistan. He was instrumental in saving the lives of 18 of his men during a fire fight in Afghanistan, for which he was awarded a Purple Heart.

Upon returning to Pocatello after being honorably discharged from the Army, Russell told how difficult it was for him to find a purpose in life, and so he made poor choices, including excessive drinking and getting into fights and brawls.  Finally, after the suicide of a close friend who had joined the Army at the same time he had, he realized that he had to change his life.  He thought about what he had enjoyed before joining the military; he had been involved in extreme sports, especially kayaking. In 2012, he established a nonprofit organization, “PTSD Veteran Athletes,” which organizes training and excursions for veterans to experience extreme outdoor activities, including kayaking, biking, hiking, and skiing. The organization provides the equipment and pays the expenses of veterans to learn how to safely participate in these sports and to travel on four trips per year around the West to experience the exhilaration of the outdoors and the camaraderie of being with a group of people who had had similar military experiences.  

Russell showed videos of his war-time experiences in the Mideast that had caused his PTSD and of his extreme outdoor sport activities that had saved his life and the lives of so many veterans.  He hopes to expand his organization to include even more sports and outdoor activities, to travel to more locations, and to include more veterans, whether they are struggling to return to civilian life or not.  Russell asked if there were questions, and the Malad students responded with many, indicating their interest in what they had heard. 

The program concluded with a moving tribute to the U.S.S. Arizona, which was sunk in Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and which became the Pearl Harbor National Memorial. While the Malad High School Band performed “Elegy to the U.S.S. Arizona,” a slide show of scenes of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the sinking of the U.S.S. Arizona, and the Pearl Harbor National Memorial, built above the sunken U.S.S. Arizona, were shown.