ELMIRA, N.Y. (WENY) -- At GST Boces, it's an annual tradition for Veterans Day to invite local service men and women to the school for a luncheon in honor of their service. On Tuesday, for the fourth straight year, veterans were honored, and stories were shared. 

"Our students learn about all of this stuff in school and I just think hearing those stories for our kids and kind of just really hearing what people have gone through and making those connections and those social connections are really important for our students," said GST Boces Social Worker, Abigail Mcgurgan.

More than 200 kids lined the halls to shake each Veteran's hand and thank them for their service. Students were then given the opportunity to learn firsthand about our nation's history. 

"It's a feeling of satisfaction that what we did did not go for no reason at all," said Vietnam Army Veteran, Joe Kopacz. "They really appreciate and they really want to listen and understand what we did and why we did it because a lot of them do not have family members that were ever in the service. So many of them have no idea."

For the veterans, they say it means everything to them to finally be free to share their story and be recognized.

"It means more than you can possibly image for those of us who were fortunate to come back," said Kopacz. "Especially from Vietnam like I did 50 years ago. It shows to us that they appreciate our service and what we did for our country. It means an awful, awful lot."