AUSTINTOWN — In a tragic sense, those who have made the ultimate sacrifice serving their country actually lost their lives twice, a U.S. Army veteran and school official said.

“They gave up two lives: the one they were living and the one they would have lived,” said Timothy Kelty, principal of Austintown Fitch High School, who also served two years in the Army. “They gave up everything for their country. They did that for us.”

Kelty made his somber remarks during a special Veterans Day program Thursday morning in the auditorium to honor those who have served the nation.

For that and other reasons, Veterans Day is filled with a variety of strong emotions that include sadness, pride, loyalty, patriotism and a sense of brotherhood, he told the audience of veterans and students, including members of the school’s Junior ROTC program.

The one-hour program’s keynote speaker was retired U.S. Air Force Col. Kevin C. Riley, former commander of the 910th Mission Support Group, Air Force Reserve Command at the Youngstown Air Reserve Station in Vienna.

In many respects, fighting in a war is highly costly, but the greatest cost is for the men and women who selflessly serve their nation at tremendous risk to themselves, Riley said.

That expense also is acutely felt by soldiers’ family members and loved ones — especially when many of them return home from the battle lines “forever changed,” explained Riley, who also is Fitch’s senior aerospace science instructor.

“The freedoms we enjoy today are a direct price paid by our veterans,” Riley said, noting that less than 1 percent of today’s population has served in the military.

The longtime decorated Air Force veteran also cited several scenes from the popular 1998 Tom Hanks and Matt Damon film “Saving Private Ryan,” which is set during the 1944 invasion of Normandy, France, during World War II and is known for its graphic portrayal of war.

Ryan was a paratrooper who was the last surviving brother of four, the others of whom were killed in action. In one scene, Ryan returns to Normandy and asks himself if he’s done enough to serve the country, Riley recalled.

In addition, he became emotional while recalling that some military personnel returned home from combat without receiving a hero’s welcome.

Also during Thursday’s program, Riley was handed a plaque for his service.

After graduating from officer training school at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, Riley worked during his seven years of active duty on a number of high-visibility space and missile programs, including the Strategic Defense Initiative. Before assuming his position at YARS, Riley was commander of the 403rd Mission Support Group at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Miss.

Ken Jakubec of Austintown, who served in the Marine Corps Air Wing and is in the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame, asked all veterans who fought in World War II, Vietnam, Iraq, the first Gulf War and elsewhere, along with those currently serving, to stand to be honored, which they did to applause.

Beforehand, all veterans in the audience were asked to stand and be recognized as the songs representing their military branches were played.

Carter Owens, a Fitch freshman, read aloud a letter he had written for veterans in which he praised them for their sacrifices and selflessness in preserving Americans’ freedoms.

Providing the musical entertainment were the Austintown Fitch High School Concert Choir and Symphonic Marching Band, which offered their renditions of “In Flanders Field,” as well as the famous Lee Greenwood song, “God Bless the USA.”