Photo Gallery: Veterans Day At Mentor Schools

Several schools in the Mentor district commemorated Veterans Day Friday.

students invited family members who are veterans to their school for a special assembly in the morning.

At the assembly, several of those students were able to thank their grandparents and parents personally for their service.

"Thank you for the sacrifices you made for me, my family and everybody else," Ryan Jacoby told the veterans, including his grandfather, Army BFC Private Frank Koncilia, who is a World War II veteran.

Meanwhile, at , Army Capt. Kevin Kleber -- a Mentor High and West Point graduate -- talked to the students about their own responsibility in maintaining the country's freedom.

He said it was not enough to thank veterans. Instead, he said, it was every person's responsibility to actively shape the future of the Unites States of America.

"I am not here to recruit you in into the Army or any other of the various branches in the Department of Defense," he said. "Quite the contrary, actually. Not all of you are able to enter the military, nor should you.

"The military plays a vital and important role, but it is not the only role. Right now, if you've paid any attention to the news over the last few months and years, you know that our nation is in a dire position.

"To fix that, we need a vast array of non-military solutions. Solutionts that call for doctors and investors, bankers and scientists, teachers, diplomats, mechanics, innovators and entrepreneurs. That's where you come into play."

Kleber added that is was the responsibility of the general citizenry -- not just the military -- to keep their leaders accountable so that they are never denied the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

He concluded by asking the students to think for themselves.

"That is your responsibility to yourselves," he said, "to your future children and to our nation as a whole."