Tinker Airmen take flag-folding tradition to local middle school Published Nov. 25, 2009 By Howdy Stout Tinker Public Affairs TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- For 90 years the Unites States has used Nov. 11 as a day to remember the service and sacrifice of veterans, both living and dead. But for retired Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Don Huff, a geography teacher at Taft Middle School in Oklahoma City, he used Veterans Day to bring history to life. Each year, Mr. Huff asks serving military members to come and talk to his seventh-grade students. This year, Airmen from the 72nd Security Forces Squadron at Tinker went back to school to demonstrate the traditional flag-folding ceremony to more than 200 middle-school students before re-enlisting one of their own. "Most of the kids can't tell you what Armistice Day or Veterans Day is," explains Mr. Huff. "So I give classes on this. Most of them have never seen anything like this before. And they've never seen a re-enlistment ceremony." Originally called Armistice Day, President Woodrow Wilson established the Nov. 11 holiday in honor of those who fought the first World War. Later, the holiday was expanded and renamed to honor all of America's veterans. Oklahoma state law requires that students be taught the meaning and significance of Veterans Day. But Mr. Huff, a 30-year veteran, didn't need any law to prompt him to do his duty. "I'd been doing it all the time," he said. "Nobody had to tell me to do it." For the last 12 years Mr. Huff has asked Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen to visit his class to explain what they do and why. And for the last 12 years, they have come. "Some kids don't have any idea or exposure to the military unless they have someone in their family who is in the military, and most of them don't," he explains. "What is great is these young people coming out to talk to the kids. Often, they come out on their day off." Nine Airmen from Tinker did just that. Tech. Sgt. Frank Hervey helped organize this year's efforts. It is his second visit to the school, his first being three years ago to demonstrate the flag-folding ceremony to the students. "We came out in service dress and did the whole thing," he said. "I missed it last year because I was deployed. This year it came around again. I was hoping it would. And I volunteered." On the auditorium stage in front of 200 students, the Airmen folded the school's own flag into a tricorn while Sergeant Hervey commented on the ceremony. "Each fold of the flag has meaning," he explained to the students. After the ceremony, 1st Lt. Adam Phillips administered the swearing in oath to Staff Sgt. Christopher Hutsell-Martin, who recently re-enlisted for another four years after a six-year tour in the Air Force. Several of the Airmen raised the school's flag while Mr. Huff's class watched. Each of the Airmen later toured the classrooms, talking to the students about the Air Force and displaying some of the uniforms and equipment the Security Forces use during their daily duties. For some, talking to the students is a new experience. For others, it is the chance to become a teacher for a day. "I'd like to teach when I get out," said Airman William Brown. "I've talked to a few college kids before, but I'd like to teach middle school." The desire to teach is something that Mr. Huff, a former Security Forces Airman, is familiar with. He shares his passion for geography, history and world culture with his students and his classroom is filled with the uniforms, pictures and memorabilia of an Air Force career that took him around the world and home again. "I always wanted to teach," he explained. "You do the same thing in the military -- teaching the young people and trying to influence them."