thedrifter
11-10-06, 07:48 AM
Friday, November 10, 2006
Kids come to attention
Nine veterans captivate a class of second-graders when they answer questions on combat and discuss why their military service mattered.
By SAM MILLER
The Orange County Register
Her pupils were getting antsy thinking about recess and the grapes and potato chips on a nearby platter. So Beverly Stephenson asked one last question of the nine veterans in her classroom.
She asked them: Were they ever afraid?
"I was only afraid one time," Jack Denapole said. He was a teenager at the time, hanging out in the general quarters around dusk, when they heard the enemy.
"Four hundred to 500 aircraft coming at us. All you could see was these bombs and lights. … We went to bed that night as kids. When we woke up the next morning, it was as men."
Nobody was still thinking about recess.
Nine fathers, grandfathers or great-grandfathers visited Stephenson's second-grade class at Portola Hills Elementary School on Thursday to talk about what military service meant to them.
The too-old-to-fight and the too-young-to-fight, talking about many of the great tragedies of the 20th century.
Visiting Hiroshima, days after the bomb. Learning the president had been shot in Texas, and believing for a week it was fiction – they thought it was a training exercise. Mourning lost friends in Vietnam.
"It comes at a perfect time," said Stephenson, a teacher for eight years. "We just did a book and talked about the fatalities in different wars. … It's amazing how they can grasp at this age."
In her classroom, the image of the American flag appears hundreds of times. She's a fanatic for patriotism: While pupils were pretending to hold flags this week, she admonished them to not let the imaginary flags touch dirt.
After Sept. 11, she started hosting veterans each year to demonstrate what she called "the price of freedom."
The kids sang patriotic songs to the veterans Thursday, then listened to war stories and asked questions.
"Did you lose close friends?" Morgan Carroll asked. All the veterans nodded.
"Did you get to choose if you go into war?" Kelsey Bray asked. No, some were drafted.
"What was it like in the Marines?" Brenden Brock asked.
"There were a lot of bad days, a lot of being-yelled-at days," said Tony Longshore, in full Marine attire. "But every day helped me shape who I am."
The event makes an impression. Last year, when Stephenson asked pupils what they wanted to be when they grew up, the boys all wanted to join the military, she said.
Not all the moms and dads in the room Thursday want their kids on the front lines, but they said they supported Stephenson's efforts.
"At a time so many people are angry and frustrated, it's nice to see pride," Deidre Lindahl said.
Being patriotic doesn't mean ignoring how horrible war can be. The veterans said service was good for them but that what they witnessed was often tragic.
"What I tell them is, if they're ever leaders, do everything you can to avoid war," said Doug Erway, whose 26 years in the Marines took him to World War II, Korea and Vietnam. "I try to impress on them that it's not glamorous."
Ellie
Kids come to attention
Nine veterans captivate a class of second-graders when they answer questions on combat and discuss why their military service mattered.
By SAM MILLER
The Orange County Register
Her pupils were getting antsy thinking about recess and the grapes and potato chips on a nearby platter. So Beverly Stephenson asked one last question of the nine veterans in her classroom.
She asked them: Were they ever afraid?
"I was only afraid one time," Jack Denapole said. He was a teenager at the time, hanging out in the general quarters around dusk, when they heard the enemy.
"Four hundred to 500 aircraft coming at us. All you could see was these bombs and lights. … We went to bed that night as kids. When we woke up the next morning, it was as men."
Nobody was still thinking about recess.
Nine fathers, grandfathers or great-grandfathers visited Stephenson's second-grade class at Portola Hills Elementary School on Thursday to talk about what military service meant to them.
The too-old-to-fight and the too-young-to-fight, talking about many of the great tragedies of the 20th century.
Visiting Hiroshima, days after the bomb. Learning the president had been shot in Texas, and believing for a week it was fiction – they thought it was a training exercise. Mourning lost friends in Vietnam.
"It comes at a perfect time," said Stephenson, a teacher for eight years. "We just did a book and talked about the fatalities in different wars. … It's amazing how they can grasp at this age."
In her classroom, the image of the American flag appears hundreds of times. She's a fanatic for patriotism: While pupils were pretending to hold flags this week, she admonished them to not let the imaginary flags touch dirt.
After Sept. 11, she started hosting veterans each year to demonstrate what she called "the price of freedom."
The kids sang patriotic songs to the veterans Thursday, then listened to war stories and asked questions.
"Did you lose close friends?" Morgan Carroll asked. All the veterans nodded.
"Did you get to choose if you go into war?" Kelsey Bray asked. No, some were drafted.
"What was it like in the Marines?" Brenden Brock asked.
"There were a lot of bad days, a lot of being-yelled-at days," said Tony Longshore, in full Marine attire. "But every day helped me shape who I am."
The event makes an impression. Last year, when Stephenson asked pupils what they wanted to be when they grew up, the boys all wanted to join the military, she said.
Not all the moms and dads in the room Thursday want their kids on the front lines, but they said they supported Stephenson's efforts.
"At a time so many people are angry and frustrated, it's nice to see pride," Deidre Lindahl said.
Being patriotic doesn't mean ignoring how horrible war can be. The veterans said service was good for them but that what they witnessed was often tragic.
"What I tell them is, if they're ever leaders, do everything you can to avoid war," said Doug Erway, whose 26 years in the Marines took him to World War II, Korea and Vietnam. "I try to impress on them that it's not glamorous."
Ellie