In a gym packed with students, staff, veterans, parents and other community members Friday morning, Philomath Middle School started its day with a patriotic assembly that featured a presentation by a U.S. Navy captain along with band and choir performances as part of an annual Veterans Day program.
Capt. John De Pree, who is in command of Oregon State University’s Naval ROTC unit, spoke to the students about his background and what military service has done for him. He connected with the kids through a multimedia presentation and shared a few fascinating stories, including thoughts on the “Top Gun” movies — De Pree is a graduate of the Navy Fighter Weapons School, also known as Top Gun — and the time he interacted with its star, Tom Cruise.
Gallery: Philomath Middle School Veterans Day Assembly (Nov. 8, 2024)
A collection of photos from the Philomath Middle School Veterans Day assembly on Friday.
De Pree, 50, saw the program as an opportunity to get a message to students.
“I want them to be interested in service over self and sort of investigate the bigger cause,” De Pree said. “Maybe my speech is motivation for them to start thinking about that before high school.”
Veterans Day is observed annually on Nov. 11 to commemorate the service of U.S. veterans.
Aubrey Badizadegan and Riley Deeds, both 13-year-old eighth graders at the middle school, said they both learned something from De Pree’s talk.
“I learned that you can be stationed for a long time — I thought it was only for like a couple of months but nine months, that’s more than I expected,” Badizadegan said in reference to what the captain had shared about deployments. “Also, that you can still (serve) and have a family later.”
Deeds enjoyed the images and videos that De Pree shared as part of his presentation.
“I learned that you can fly multiple planes instead of just one when you’re serving,” she said when asked what she took away from the event. “I thought you had just one that you were assigned to.”
Flying planes appeared to be somewhat of an interest to her.
“I’ve thought of it but I would have to gain more confidence … I don’t know how I would do flying,” Deeds said.
Badizadegan has family members serving in the military, including an uncle who is stationed in Europe and a great-grandfather who fought in World War II. Deeds said a family friend is a veteran and was among those in the audience at the early morning assembly.
De Pree first became interested in the military through the movies. When he was a child, he loved watching old war movies and “PT 109” — which had been released years earlier in 1963 — told the story of a childhood hero, John F. Kennedy, and his service during World War II.
At the time, the future president served as an officer in the U.S. Navy. In command of an 80-foot patrol torpedo boat (PT-109), Kennedy’s actions helped save his crew after it had been sunk by a Japanese destroyer.
“That sort of patriotism and the feeling like you owe those who came before you … how do you choose which community, which service?” De Pree said. “That’s how I kind of got steered in the direction of doing something in the military.”
De Pree applied to all branches and ultimately chose the U.S. Navy with an interest in aviation.
The attack on America on Sept. 11, 2001, changed his future path in more than one way. De Pree had been through college and was approaching the end of his military commitment.
“I was like, ‘yeah, I could do one more thing and then I could leave’ and then 9/11 happened,” he said. “It was a just cause — the nation was in an uproar and I trained for this. It was really fulfilling to go out and execute and feel like, ‘hey, we’re doing the nation a solid here.’”
The other way that 9/11 changed his path was on a more personal level. He got married the day after the attacks.
“When I went to work on 9/11, they sent us home and all the flight schedules were canceled and it was ‘go back your bags, we’re leaving,’” De Pree said. “And we were going to leave anyway but I was like, ‘oh boy, something big has happened.’ So we talked and we were like, ‘we might as well go down to the courthouse and just tie the knot.’ I didn’t want to leave and if something happened to me, then my fiancée was not taken care of.”
On Sept. 19, he was a pilot aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt and in less than a month, the ship reached the North Arabian Sea and joined in the fighting against al-Qaeda in Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. The Theodore Roosevelt ended up spending 160 consecutive days at sea, a record at the time.
“No port calls, we didn’t stop anywhere and every day it was take off and fly for eight hours, drop bombs,” De Pree said. “But everybody was so motivated. I was like, ‘man, I’ll continue to do this, this was worth signing up for.’”
By the way, after returning to homeport the following spring, he and his wife had an actual wedding ceremony.
The event featured musical selections from the band and choir, and included the National Anthem with the Naval ROTC’s color guard in attendance and the playing of “Taps” to remember those who have been lost while in service. Another touching moment occurred when the band played the official songs for each branch of the military while those who served stood up to be recognized.
Principal Steve Bell led off with a history of Veterans Day. Outside the school, Philomath Fire and Rescue had a ladder truck on site with a large American flag on display.
De Pree, who is approaching 30 years in the service and mandatory retirement, wore his flight suit as part of his presentation to the kids.
“This is a fire retardant, one-piece outfit that you wear when you’re flying,” he said. “It’s the most comfortable uniform probably in the entire Navy.”
Badizadegan and Deeds haven’t even reached high school and will be presented with all kinds of opportunities when it comes to their futures. But might they be interested in military service at some level?
“I mean, I’ve thought about it before, definitely, but I’d be a little bit too scared to do it,” Badizadegan said.
Said Deeds, “I don’t know what I’m doing for sure, but I’ll look into it.”
The middle school was just one campus in the district holding an event in recognition of Veterans Day from the youngest students at Clemens Primary all the way up through the older kids at the high school, which hosted an event on Thursday.
