Groton - West Side Middle School Principal John Jones choked up Friday as he spoke before 480 students at an assembly honoring veterans.

He didn't tell the audience why. But Jones' father, George Jones, a World War II veteran who served for 20 years in the Navy, attended the program every year since it started in 2006. He passed away in April.

"This was the first one he missed," John Jones said. The principal said he was proud of how much the program had grown.

This year, it had an extra element of excitement. The History Channel joined with Comcast to feature the school for "Take a Veteran to School" day, which brings veterans into classrooms to share their stories. The students at West Side got T-shirts, and photographers and videographers interviewed veterans, students and staff.

At West Side, nearly one-third of the students have a family member in active duty military, so they understand the word "veteran."

"My papa is a two-star general in the Army. He's at my nana's house," Serenity Colley, 11, said as she worked on a card for those on active duty in the military. "He retired 30 years after he joined the Army. I felt really sad because I didn't really know him until he retired." Serenity's father is in the U.S. Coast Guard.

Tamalega Tuinei, 11, also wrote a card: "Thank you for your service. I appreciate that you fight to keep us safe. I understand that you chose to serve and that you could be doing something more safe."

His great grandfather served in World War II, lost a leg and was in a wheelchair, Tamalega said.

"My father used to be in the Army and now he's in the Coast Guard. ... When he was in the Army, he went to Iraq," the sixth-grader said. "We've been stationed in a lot of places."

Students served the visiting veterans a lunch of sandwiches, salad and cookies, and then everyone gathered for a schoolwide assembly as the veterans took the stage.

Jones introduced and thanked each one and gave them a chance to speak, and students applauded them. The commander of U.S. Submarine Base New London, city and town mayors, city police chief, schools superintendent and school board chairwoman attended the ceremony.

The middle school band, so skilled at playing military hymns that it sometimes performs at U.S. Submarine Base New London when ships return from deployment, played the Navy Hymn.

Frederick Morley, who served in the U.S. Marines and was among those on stage, said he was impressed.

"Like the chief of police came out, the sub base commander, the mayors," he said. "And the school did an excellent job."

"It's almost a living memorial of the sacrifice of people who can't be here," he said of events like the one at West Side. "Sometimes things happen. War is an unsightly thing. Combat is an unsightly thing."

Joining the military can be like writing a blank check on your life, he said, yet the task is so important.

"Without veterans, there would be no structure," Morley said. "There would be nothing."

d.straszheim@theday.com

Twitter: @DStraszheim