Colton High Alum Honored Where Mom Can See Him

Last month, Coltonite Tyler Holmes was honored with a military banner installation ceremony for his current service in the Army. Unfortunately, he was unable to attend since he is currently stationed in Germany; however, he had many family members and friends who attended his ceremony to support him. Holmes, born in Fontana, was raised in Colton his entire life. A varsity wrestler and a 2011 graduate of Colton High School, he had always dreamed about joining the Army. His mother, Valerie Holmes, said, “He was the kid that was always playing with his little green army men… He’s always wanted to be an Army man.” Holmes joined the Army in November 2011, and after graduating Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia, he was immediately deployed to Germany for Operation Enduring Freedom and numerous multinational operations. Holmes’s military banner installation ceremony kicked off at exactly 1 p.m., directly across from his former school, Colton High. Valerie, who works at CHS, was able to attend since the school got out at noon that day. “It was perfect. I just walked across the street after I got off work,” she explained. Other family members, friends, two of his Army recruiters, and even some of Holmes’s former high school teachers attended the ceremony to honor his service. At the ceremony, Rachel Teni, a senior at Colton High School and one of Valerie's students, sang "America the Beautiful." “I invited everyone to P & G’s after the ceremony to eat… We made a whole day of it,” Valerie said. While Holmes was home on leave in June 2014, Valerie asked him if he would be interested in having his own banner. “He thought the banners were really cool, hanging up around town, so I gave him a few options of where to hang it and he immediately picked the one across the high school and in front of KFC, of course,” she chuckled. “The spot is perfect.” Every day before work, Valerie mentioned she looks up at her son’s banner happily. She added, “The receptionist at work (CHS), always tells me ‘All I have to do is look out my window.’”