Submitted by Denair Unified School District
Trick or treating was over on Halloween Night when Derek Starkey sat down with his great-grandfather, Don Bothun, to talk about what it was like to be part of an Army tank company in the early 1950s.
It was more than a spur-of-the-moment conversation. Like his 72 classmates at Denair Middle School, Derek had an assignment: Interview a U.S. military veteran and file a report with English teacher Colleen Vickery.
“He wanted to know if it was a big adventure,” said Bothun, who spent two years in Germany during the Korean War.
“I found out it was a lot different then than it is now,” said Derek.
The calendar shows Veterans Day as Nov. 11 – the 11th day of the 11th month, formally acknowledging the time that World War I ended. But the middle school students chose to honor local veterans Monday, knowing classes won’t be held on the federal holiday.
Bothun was one of about a dozen in attendance during a patriotic half-hour ceremony at the Coyote Center. A color guard and drum team from Stanislaus Military Academy performed. The national anthem was played. Students read poems paying tribute to servicemen and women. Songs representing each of the branches of the military were shared.
Photos and quotes from more than 40 local veterans interviewed by the students were taped to the wall. The veterans represented served from World War II to the present day.
One picture was of Bothun sitting in the shade beneath his tank. Another showed young Marine John Richardson holding his rifle across his chest. He, too, was present Monday, the guest of his daughter, eighth-grader Tati Abebe.
Richardson served in Iraq at the end of Desert Storm in the early 1990s and later in Somalia in northeastern Africa. He said it’s important for young people to understand values like bravery, honor and sacrifice as well as the United States’ role in the world. Continue reading “Denair Middle School Students Honor Veterans” »