Haddonfield Middle School honors veterans by listening to their stories.
Haddonfield Middle School hosted its annual Veterans Day ceremony in the school’s auditorium Wednesday morning. In attendance were veterans of all branches of the military, having served in wars across the globe. One of the many military heroes who participated in the event was guest speaker and Colorado native, Capt. Janelle Baron.
“When Capt. Baron comes up and we have her resume up here, we want her to go quickly through it because, otherwise, based on her accomplishments, I think we’d all be late for dinner,” Jim McCullough, a veteran of the United States Air Force joked.
Baron, nicknamed “Slam” for short, had no clue growing up that she would become a fighter pilot with the 177th fighter wing in the New Jersey National Guard. During her presentation, she explained that, at 14, she originally had a dream of one day becoming the next Roxanne Ritchie, a fictional cartoon reporter. That all changed when she watched both World Trade Center towers crumble during the Sept. 11 attacks. She described the moment when the towers were falling as when she found her calling.
“So I was trying to write down everything that happened, I was trying to report on it and I had kind of a moment where I thought, you know, I don’t want to report on this, I’d like to do something about it,” she said.
Little did she know at the time, that pivotal point would lead to a career as a fighter pilot. To earn a pilot’s license was easier said than done. Baron worked at a dry cleaning shop to earn enough money to be able to fly and gain hours for her pilot’s license. At 14, she emailed her nearest international guard base, which happened to be Buckley near Denver, Col.
In her email, she expressed her desire to become a fighter pilot and wanted guidance on the steps to achieve this dream. The response was, “That’s cute. Get good grades and come back when you’re older.”
And she did just that.
Today, Baron operates from the 119th Fighter Squadron, which recently celebrated its 100th anniversary. With Baron’s primary job being homeland defense, she knows she achieved her dreams.
“So when I signed up and said I just don’t want to report on it, I want to do something about it, this is what the Guard does, we defend America,” Baron said.
Baron has flown all over the world, including places such as South Korea, Japan and her personal favorite, Australia. She will continue to protect the United States through her military career and urges students who attended the ceremony to consider Veterans Day as more than just another day off from school.
“We have those freedoms because we are in America, and those freedoms were fought for us by people over generations and generations, so it’s not just a three-day weekend,” she said.
