COEUR d'ALENE - Winton Elementary School students expressed their gratitude to America's heroes during their annual Pearl Harbor ceremony Friday morning.

Students from kindergarten through fifth grades shared stories of individual soldiers, educated the audience on historical events leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor 72 years ago and sang several patriotic songs such as "Yankee Doodle," "God Bless America" and "Proud to Be an American."

Veterans of varying ages from different wars and eras sat in the middle of the gym, flanked by students seated on the floor. A few tears were shed when all the students stood and saluted the veterans while singing a "thank you" song.

"That was so uplifting and so heartwarming," said Marine Corps veteran Guy Ashcraft of Coeur d'Alene, who served during Vietnam. "It gives me a great sense of community just to be able to come and see this, that this is what they're teaching the children and this is the enthusiasm the children had for putting on this wonderful performance."

Fifth-grader Chyanne Weller, 11, of Coeur d'Alene, was one of the presenters. She said she wants to say thank you to all of America's veterans.

"It feels good that we can be free, and make choices of our own," she said.

The Winton Special Chorus wore glittery red, white and blue vests while singing on the risers at the front of the gym. The program, coordinated by music/P.E. teacher Nancy Mueller, also included a trumpet solo of "The Star-Spangled Banner" and a special performance of "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" by three young ladies dressed as the Andrews Sisters in authentic World War II-era uniforms with snappy young gentlemen to dance along with them on stage.

"We do make it big here, I guess, but it just has turned out to be such a neat experience for the kids," Mueller said. "I was pretty impressed with their memorization of all those words." Mueller has been involved with the Pearl Harbor ceremony since 1995, and she said it's a program local veterans enjoy attending.

"Patriotism has always been a big deal to me," said Terri O'Rourke of Coeur d'Alene. O'Rourke is a registered nurse and served in the Air Force Reserve from 1994 to 2000. She said she feels the country is losing its patriotism, faith and structure, but events like Friday's assembly bring her back to an earlier time.

"When I come to these schools and I see the faces and the love and the adults interacting with the children, it reminds me of the 1950s, which I miss, because that's the way it was everywhere," she said.

O'Rourke lived in Hawaii for eight years, where she could actually see Pearl Harbor from her home. As a nurse, she met many of the older people in the area, "and they remember the day of the black smoke," she said. "They remember that civilians were killed... Pearl Harbor has the (U.S.S.) Arizona, with over 1,000 of the sailors buried with it under the water. When I lived there, every day the tourists were coming from around the world for vacations. They were out there. People don't forget how many died and the way they died."