BELCHERTOWN — Dozens of cards with hearts, stars and American flags covered a small white table in the Belchertown High School auditorium, each written by middle or elementary school students to express gratitude for veterans in their community who gave their time, energy and, in some cases, lives serving the country.

The cards — available for residents to pass on to veterans in their lives — were one of several tributes to Belchertown’s service members for Veterans Day. On Nov. 11 at 11 a.m., people filled the high school auditorium to watch children perform patriotic songs, learn more about veterans benefits and listen to stories from veterans and their families.

“When I was leaving (the Air Force), I thought I was losing my family,” Air Force Technical Sgt. Sharon Kahl-Oey said. “But to have all the veterans in this community has been really great, because they’ve helped me transition to being a civilian. I’m really glad I get to do that with all of you.”

Kahl-Oey, who was this year’s guest speaker for the ceremony, served in the Air Force for 11½ years as a truck driver, hydrant operator and fueler.

She fueled jets and airplanes for missions and even got to top off Air Force One a couple of times.

“It’s not a glorious job, and you smell like jet fuel all the time, but it’s a job that I love and I was happy to be a part of,” she said.

Her military career took Kahl-Oey to 13 countries around the world, both for combat and support operations.

She spoke about her year in Central and South America, hiking through difficult terrain to provide health care, shelter and support to remote communities.

“Us airman like to call ourselves the one-percenters because we are 1% of the United States population,” Kahl-Oey said. “Fuelies, my job, we are 1% of the Air Force, so 1% of the 1%.”

Now, Kahl-Oey advocates for veterans’ benefits at the local level, sending every Belchertown veteran she meets to the door of Belchertown Veterans Service Officer Charly Oliva.

State Sen. Jake Oliveira and Rep. Aaron Saunders spoke about their role in supporting veterans at the state level, drawing attention to the HERO Act, comprehensive legislation signed in August that will expand tax exemptions, health care coverage and veteran recognition for Massachusetts veterans.

“We have a unique responsibility in government to fulfill the obligation that we have to our veterans and their families once they have finished their time serving our country,” Sanders said. “The HERO Act is the latest of several bills that the state Legislature has adopted over the last couple of years to not only meet that obligation, but to meet a shifting obligation of veterans and their families.”

While the focus of the event remained on veterans, it was Belchertown children who took center stage during the ceremony. Boy Scout Troop 507 served as the color guard, presenting and removing the flags of each military branch. Chestnut Hill Girl Scout Evelyn Maldanis read a short report about the HERO Act, and the Chestnut Hill Community Band performed several patriotic classics, from “America the Beautiful” to “Salute to America.”

Veterans from each of the six military branches stood when Chestnut Hill Choir performed the Armed Forces Medley, receiving applause from the crowd. The choir ended with a rendition of “Amazing Grace.”

“I always ask the choir to end on ‘Amazing Grace’ to honor veterans still missing or cannot and will not come home,” Belchertown Veterans Service Officer Charly Oliva said.

Oliveira, acknowledging that the choir’s performance of “Amazing Grace” brought tears to his eyes, reflected on how his definition of veterans has changed over the years. Today, he views veterans through his commitment to improving their quality of life after returning home. As a kid, he saw the veterans in his life as old men who told inspiring and historic, but distant, war stories.

Somewhere in between these two moments, as he went to high school and began making plans for the future, Oliveira realized that veterans are a key part of his community.

“As I got older, and the wars in Afghanistan and the wars of Iraq started, those veterans that seemed so distant to me when I was a little kid were my friends, my neighbors, people who went to school,” he said.

“That iteration of what a veterans would mean to me changed a little bit, because there were people that I grew up with.”