Post by title1parent on Apr 10, 2009 7:35:08 GMT -5
www.suburbanchicagonews.com/beaconnews/news/1520816,2_1_AU10_VETERANS_S1.article
Vets offer insight to kids on realities of war
April 10, 2009
By MARISSA AMONI For The Beacon News
AURORA -- Washington Middle School was focused on World War II Thursday.
And nothing brought the war into more focus than the handful of veterans who shared their recollections for the school's One Book/One School project.
"It is important that we hear their stories," said Ann Eifler, balanced literacy facilitator for the school.
Eifler organized the all-day event that welcomed the veterans and author Julie Phend, who wrote "D-Day and Beyond: A True Story of Escape and POW Survival."
All classes, all day, in all subject areas were engaged in literacy activities tied to Phend's book, which portrays one man's true war adventures and struggles.
The local veterans who presented tales of their own adventures and struggles were greeted with horns and applause Thursday morning as students lined the school's main hallway, decorated with banners and red, white and blue ribbons.
"I think it's great," said John Giartonia, 87, of the reception.
A paratrooper in World War II, Giartonia said that he got through the war all right, but he didn't want anything to do with it once the fighting was over.
"I couldn't get past it," he said.
He was in the war for three years, three months and 10 days.
Giartonia stood next to fellow World War II veteran Don Brengman, 82, at the front of Shawn Cole's social studies class while students posed questions.
"We're you ever shot?" brought chuckles from the men. The answer is "no," but both had some close calls.
Brengman reached far into his memory when asked the meaning of the badges, medals and patches hanging on his jacket and pinned in a glass case in front of him. He recalled nearly every one -- including the bronze star and dog tags that he is lucky enough to display.
Brengman held back tears after a student asked if they had ever regretted joining the armed services. The only thing he regretted during the war, Brengman said, was staying in the truck when he drove through his brother's outfit after the Battle of the Bulge.
"Two days after I went through, I found out my brother was dead," he said.
He drove through the outfit on April 8, 1945, and his brother was killed on April 10.
Russell Diefenbach, 84, spoke to sixth-graders in another classroom. He recalled April Fools' Day in Okinawa and the aggressive invasions of small Japanese islands.
Sixth grader Rebecca Perez appreciated the veterans' visit to her school.
"It helps us connect to the war," she said.
And that was the reason for selecting Phend's book for the One Book/One School project, Eifler said -- to get students involved in the history of World War II.
"These stories are being lost," Eifler said.
The entire school read Phend's book, published in 2004, which chronicles the life of Stanley Edwards, a World War II veteran and POW.
Edwards, now deceased, was a paratrooper in the war. After his plane was shot down, he was captured by German forces and escaped twice before he was caught by Nazis and sent to a prison camp in Germany.
"His story was just mesmerizing," said Phend, a retired middle school teacher from Naperville.
comment at beaconnewsonline.com Living history
Vets offer insight to kids on realities of war
April 10, 2009
By MARISSA AMONI For The Beacon News
AURORA -- Washington Middle School was focused on World War II Thursday.
And nothing brought the war into more focus than the handful of veterans who shared their recollections for the school's One Book/One School project.
"It is important that we hear their stories," said Ann Eifler, balanced literacy facilitator for the school.
Eifler organized the all-day event that welcomed the veterans and author Julie Phend, who wrote "D-Day and Beyond: A True Story of Escape and POW Survival."
All classes, all day, in all subject areas were engaged in literacy activities tied to Phend's book, which portrays one man's true war adventures and struggles.
The local veterans who presented tales of their own adventures and struggles were greeted with horns and applause Thursday morning as students lined the school's main hallway, decorated with banners and red, white and blue ribbons.
"I think it's great," said John Giartonia, 87, of the reception.
A paratrooper in World War II, Giartonia said that he got through the war all right, but he didn't want anything to do with it once the fighting was over.
"I couldn't get past it," he said.
He was in the war for three years, three months and 10 days.
Giartonia stood next to fellow World War II veteran Don Brengman, 82, at the front of Shawn Cole's social studies class while students posed questions.
"We're you ever shot?" brought chuckles from the men. The answer is "no," but both had some close calls.
Brengman reached far into his memory when asked the meaning of the badges, medals and patches hanging on his jacket and pinned in a glass case in front of him. He recalled nearly every one -- including the bronze star and dog tags that he is lucky enough to display.
Brengman held back tears after a student asked if they had ever regretted joining the armed services. The only thing he regretted during the war, Brengman said, was staying in the truck when he drove through his brother's outfit after the Battle of the Bulge.
"Two days after I went through, I found out my brother was dead," he said.
He drove through the outfit on April 8, 1945, and his brother was killed on April 10.
Russell Diefenbach, 84, spoke to sixth-graders in another classroom. He recalled April Fools' Day in Okinawa and the aggressive invasions of small Japanese islands.
Sixth grader Rebecca Perez appreciated the veterans' visit to her school.
"It helps us connect to the war," she said.
And that was the reason for selecting Phend's book for the One Book/One School project, Eifler said -- to get students involved in the history of World War II.
"These stories are being lost," Eifler said.
The entire school read Phend's book, published in 2004, which chronicles the life of Stanley Edwards, a World War II veteran and POW.
Edwards, now deceased, was a paratrooper in the war. After his plane was shot down, he was captured by German forces and escaped twice before he was caught by Nazis and sent to a prison camp in Germany.
"His story was just mesmerizing," said Phend, a retired middle school teacher from Naperville.
comment at beaconnewsonline.com Living history