Remembering Veterans Day
One of my favorite television programs was The West Wing. It chronicled the lives of a current but mythical president and his staff- how they dealt with each other as well as the important social and political issues of the day. One of the most compelling episodes dealt with the discovery of a homeless veteran of the Korean War who had died on a park bench at the base of the Washington Monument. One of the key players in the President’s administration arranges for a military funeral at Arlington National Cemetery. The very poignant message is that we should never forget our veterans and what sacrifices they made for their country. There are still many homeless veterans out there. “Homes for our Troops" is a project that accepts donated construction equipment and helps build housing for homeless vets. This organization can be reached at www.homesforourtroops.org.
This year Veterans’ Day is 11-11-11 making it unique in many ways. We as educators should make it special by doing something for a veteran. Perhaps visit an area Veterans Home and spent some time with the residents. Why not start a school project for holidays collecting clothing, food and toiletries to be sent to our troops deployed around the word. The Disabled American Vets organization (DAV) is looking for volunteers to provide transportation for disabled vets to their appointments are area VA medical centers. The web site is www.dav.org/volunteers.
We are losing World War Two veterans at a rate over 1000 a day. Soon there will no survivors left to recount their deeds acts of heroism. Invite a veteran to come to your school and speak to the students. You may wish to have your students to write letters to servicemen and women who recuperating in Veterans Hospital’s across the country from combat injuries. There is a program called “Cell Phones for Soldiers". Collect old and unwanted cell phones and they can be turned in for talk time so deployed troops can call home. The web address is cellphonesforasoldiers.com
The Library of Congress has an ongoing project to conduct interviews of veterans who served in combat. You and your students can request a kit that includes biographical data desired as well as release forms. This would an excellent project for both social studies and creative writing classes. For more information go to www.loc.gov/vets.
There are numerous opportunities for schools to participate in Veterans Day programs and projects. Students need to realize that Veterans Day is not just a day off from school or a sale at the local shopping mall. Our veterans are the backbone of what has made us a great nation. We need to let our veterans know that.
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