Sandy Hook Students Honor Veterans

By Jeff White

To walk through the cafeteria of Sandy Hook Elementary School this past week was to travel back through decades of history and bravery.

For over a week, students brought home interview sheets and sought out the stories of family members and neighbors who had given their service to the armed forces. A good portion of the lunchroom’s walls now bears the fruits of the students’ searches in the form of a Wall of Remembrance, a symbol of gratitude and respect in honor of Veterans’ Day.

“Very often to kids [Veterans Day] is just a day off,” says Lead Teacher George Stockwell, who organized the activity as a means of creating awareness in students of the sacrifices many Americans have made to defend their country. Mr Stockwell himself is a veteran who served for two years in the army’s field of artillery weapons. “Now the day means something to them.”

Students canvassed their grandparents, aunts and uncles, mothers and fathers, discovering what branch of service they were in, how many years of service they performed, and the various duties for which they were responsible.

Kindergartner Joshua Verner interviewed his uncle, Martin E. Weigand, who served as a technical sergeant in the air force for one year during the Persian Gulf War. Mr Weigand also took part in the invasion of Panama in 1989.

Third-grader Steven Jaroszewski wrote about his grandfather, Maximilian Francis Jaroszewski, who operated heavy equipment in the 63rd Naval Construction Battalion during the fighting in World War II’s Pacific arena.

Second-grader Brian Kuruc remembered Richard Goodsnyder’s efforts in the navy from 1957 through 1958 as an electrician’s mate, first class. Mr Goodsnyder earned the Silver Dolphin during his service on a submarine.

Arthur Fredericks interviewed Sgt David Perrotte, who was stationed in Vietnam for four years as a machine gunner and squad leader.

Sandy Hook faculty, staff and parents could not walk through the cafeteria without pausing a moment at the wall. Gunners’ mates, air-sea rescuers, deep sea divers, radio operators, infantrymen, flight engineers, combat writers and photographers, pilots, bridge builders and front line combatants all stare out at onlookers through weathered, timeworn photographs, their stories strung together like a history book.

Interview sheets are adorned with dog tags, stained certificates of training and student depictions of planes and tanks.

Outside the cafeteria, a separate easel displays the stories of Sandy Hook employees who gave their service for the United States.

“[The project] heightened their awareness of Veterans’ Day, and it was a good way to get kids to reach out to family, so it really had two purposes,” explains Mr Stockwell.

The Wall of Remembrance will remain on display at the school through Thanksgiving.

If students, through this activity, can simply pause and acknowledge the level of dedication it took for their loved ones to serve in the armed forces, Sandy Hook faculty will view the project as a success. It seemed as of Tuesday, amid a procession of students through the cafeteria, that this year’s Veterans’ Day would prove to have a more powerful message for the young.

And the students, for their part, seemed to have a message of their own to their family members, encapsulated on the bottom of a fourth-grader’s interview. Below the descriptions of duties penned in blue ink on this sheet the words “I love you” were colored in crayon.