Merrimack Valley Middle School paraprofessional Robin O’Dougherty was three practices into a professional baseball career with the Philadelphia Phillies organization when a knee injury ended his dreams of making it to the major leagues.

That misfortune ultimately led O’Dougherty, 65, to enlist in the U.S. Navy. On Friday, more than 40 years after blowing out his knee, O’Dougherty addressed a crowded Merrimack Valley Middle School gym as the keynote speaker of the school’s annual Veterans Day Observance Ceremony.

“I was so honored to have served in the Navy a nd to have served with others who I was stationed with,” said O’Dougherty, who has worked in special education for 30 years but is in his first year as an eighth-grade paraprofessional at MVMS.

Students and staff honored more than two dozen veterans and active members of the military from the MV community, including Bin Huang, a Merrimack Valley parent who remains a member of the Air Force reserve and previously served as a member of the Army National Guard.

“Events like this are fantastic,” said Huang, a Salisbury resident who coaches boys’ soccer at MVMS and is beloved among students. “It gives us the opportunity see what other veterans are in students’ lives.”

Each veteran was given a framed thank you letter from the middle school.

The ceremony also included a presentation of flags conducted by high school students and Boy Scouts Nick Gelinas and Trey Jakubowski, musical performances by the middle school choruses and bands, and the playing of Taps by eighth graders Cylas Raiche and Issiah Lamarche.

Students wrote essays in their language arts and social studies classes explaining why they were grateful for veterans and four winners – six-grader Owen Boutin, seventh-graders Fatimah Altameemi and Holiday Jones, and eighth-grader Gianna Lane – were selected to read their responses.

“History has always been an endless cycle of war and conflict,” Lane wrote. “Veterans Day is about remembering what these people risked their lives for.”