Many mitts grabbed a multitude of muffins at the John W. Decas Elementary School’s Muffins for the Military event Tuesday morning.

The event was held for the kindergarten classrooms throughout the school at 9:30 a.m., and again at 10:15 a.m. Kindergarteners’ military family members were invited to talk with the classes, or just come in and share muffins with the kids.

Michele Lefrancois’ and Maggie Kuppens’ classes joined together to listen to a few veterans come in and speak. Before the small talks, however, the classes sang a song thanking the veterans’ for their service, set to the tune of “Oh, Christmas Tree.”

Jim Bruce, a Vietnam Navy veteran, shared photographs of his experience during the war, which took place between 1954 and 1975. He explained what boot camp is, emphasizing the importance of education, and showed the children photographs of his graduation from boot camp and from Marines medical training.

“You know what you do at boot camp? You study,” Bruce said. “And you learn about what you’re going to do, whether you are in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard. It’s still all about school.”

Bruce also told the children Nov. 11 marks the end of WWI in 1918.

“Veterans Day was a declaration day, because of the ending of the war a hundred years ago. No, I wasn’t there,” Bruce said, eliciting laughter.

Another Navy veteran, Robert Jackson, showed the children his military medals.

“This is the National Defense Ribbon, and it is the one ribbon, when you graduate from school, that you wear on your dress uniform,” Jackson told the children. “Then there are other ribbons for different achievements, or different things you participated in – a particular war, or particular battle. … When you see someone really important in the military, you will see they have a whole slew of these ribbons, and they will be all different colors and stripes.”

Jackson also said he brought a chevron, a medal that indicates rank in the military.

“This one has two bars on it,” Jackson said. “When I left the service, I was a second class petty officer. … You would wear that on your hat, or you would have stripes on your sleeve to let other military personnel know what your rank was. I happened to have been an electrician. I took care of the ship’s instruments and communications and whatnot.”

LeFrancois said she and several other kindergarten teachers have family members in the military, and want to emphasize the importance of the day’s history for the kids, because “it’s such an abstract thought for them.”

“This was a hard one. It’s always a hard one. They don’t get the concept of what a veteran is,” LeFrancois said. “We relate it to what the kids know best: these people miss out on their family time to protect and serve our country. So, with Thanksgiving coming up, and the holidays coming up, it’s a way to connect it for kids so they will understand that these people gave their time – and, some, their lives – to protect our country.”