By ILY GOYANES | Special to the Independent

Students from Mountain View Middle School in Bremerton are paying it forward this holiday season by honoring the past.

PTA president, Sue Ferguson, and Mountain View’s principal, Michaeleen Donlan-Gelhaus, came up with the idea to present war veterans with a special gift this holiday season — the gift of music.

Fifty-one seventh and eighth grade students, all members of the school’s student band, performed a slew of holiday songs and patriotic marches for residents of the Washington Veterans Home near Port Orchard Dec. 12.

Ferguson’s father, George J. Gott, served in the Navy during the Korean and second world wars and is a resident at the home in Retsil. She said the idea to give something back to men and women like her father gave her goosebumps.

“It’s nice to do something for them,” she said. “This may be the only gift some of them get this Christmas.”

Students also distributed Christmas presents and greeting cards to the veterans on Dec. 18, during the home’s Christmas party.

Eighth-grader Alexander Mejia felt that it was more important for the students to play music than hand out gifts.

“This gives them a chance to hear music that reminds them that they did the right thing,” said Mejia, referring to songs like “March of the Armed Forces,” which the band played to a full house that morning.

Other students seemed to connect with the veterans on a more personal level. Hannah Chichester and Payton Urrutia, both in seventh grade, lingered as their fellow students headed back to the waiting school bus.

Entertaining the girls with their colorful stories were Marion John Stanley, who served as a Fleet Chaplain in the Navy during World War II; John Cockerill, a Navy man who fought at Normandy; and Wayne Arnold, who served in the Army during WWII.

The three veterans were grateful to be on the receiving end of someone else’s generosity.

“It’s wonderful, very nice,” said Arnold of the students’ visit. “I’d like to see more of it.”

Arnold’s wife, Helen, who resides at the home with her husband, also appreciated the students performance.

“I loved it and so did my husband,” she said. “He loves music. He has Alzheimer’s, but he hasn’t forgotten music,” she added with a smile.

Tami Reuter, the home’s recreational therapy manager, helped the school organize the event as part of her ongoing mission to create “a nursing home without walls.”

“That is what we are trying to build here,” she said. “We have 243 residents; it’s impossible to get all of them out to see the world. This way, the world comes to them.”