WATCH: Veterans Give Students A Living, Breathing History Lesson

In one room, Bob and Darlene Schiederman were explaining what it meant for a soldier to receive a “Dear John” letter. In another, Wayne Swaylk was giving a brief history of some of the ships the Navy has used.

In still another room, Ferd Klebold was recounting what it was like to be on the beach in Normandy the day after the D-Day invasion -- and surprising his young interviewers with his perspective.

“I don’t think we were the ‘Greatest Generation,’ ” Klebold said, referring to a title bestowed on those who lived through the Depression and particularly applied to those who fought in World War II. “I think the pioneers were greater. Living in covered wagons, settling the west. That was a tough life.”

And amid the artifacts and pictures from bygone eras at the Ocean County Historical Society, history came to life for the students of Toms River South and Donovan Catholic.

About 30 students from the two high schools took part in the project that was the brainchild of Jeff Schenker, a member of the historical society’s board of trustees and a retired history teacher from Toms River South.

“It is of paramount importance that young people become familiar with the sacrifices veterans have made over the years,” Schenker said.

The students interviewed the veterans in pairs, and will be writing essays about the experience and what they learned, he said. The essays will be judged by members of the historical society and the student whose essay is deemed best will be honored at the historical society’s installation dinner, Schenker said.

The students who participated volunteered to be part of the day, said Nicole Schumann, who teaches A.P. U.S. history at Toms River South. The students came away with a new appreciation of the veterans, they said.

“There’s a disconnect between what we learned in history class and what he told us,” said Matthew Bruinooge, a junior from Donovan Catholic who was in a group of four students who interviewed Klebold.

Rebecca Rosenberg, a senior at Donovan, said they were surprised by his protestations that he was not a hero.

“We were speechless,” she said.

Klebold, who moved to Seaside Park in 1946 and to Toms River in 1954, where he worked as a real estate agent for 40 years, reiterated that statement, as well as his feelings that the pioneers faced far greater challenges.

“The pioneers didn’t have hot water. They didn’t have showers, and they didn’t have steady meals” as they made their way west, exploring and settling the continent, Klebold said. “I was on the beach in Normandy for 30 days. I always had a meal. I could take a shower.”

He downplayed his role at Normandy, repeatedly saying the challenges his group faced as the second wave of the Navy’s 7th Beach Battalion were minimal compared with those who were involved in the initial beach landing.

“I was just lucky I wasn’t part of that first wave,” Klebold said.

The students weren’t the only ones who learned something, however.

Paul Wnek, who was a Navy Frogman in Vietnam, said he was surprised by how limited the students’ knowledge was about military life.

“I have never eaten better than I did in the Navy,” said Wnek, who works as a fraud investigator and who served as mayor of Toms River back when it was still called Dover Township. But he added the lack of knowledge “is our own fault,” saying veterans need to make sure people undertand their sacrifices.

Ken Leone, who served in Vietnam and was a longtime police officer in Toms River, said he tried to explain the bigger impact of his service.

“I met people I never would have met,” Leone said, such as one man from the South who had never experienced having running water in the building. Parris Island was a real upgrade for that man, Leone said.

Francine Main, who was a pilot in Bosnia and the Middle East, said she was glad to be able to show the students a slightly different view of the military.

“Not many veterans look like me,” she said, referring to the fact that she was one of two female veterans in the group. “That is slowly changing, and someday there will be a lot more veterans who look like me, and not the typical veteran many people think of.”

As the students and veterans ate sandwiches and a cake that celebrated the event, Schenker thanked the veterans for participating, and for their service.

“We are forever grateful,” he said.

The veterans who participated and their experiences included:

• Ferd Klebold -- Landed at Normandy Beach on the second day of the invasion .
• Manny Hirshblond -- Served n the Navy during World War II
• Manny Maroukis -- World War II
• Fred Stodolak -- Korea
• Bob Schiederman -- Served during the Cold War
• Darlene Schiederman -- Served stateside 1960s in the Navy, involved in court martial procedures
• Bob Foxman -- served in the 1960s during the Cold War
• Ken Leone -- Decorated Marine officer from Vietnam
• Ralph Moranz -- Served in Vietnam
• Nels Luthman -- Dog Handler in Vietnam
• Bob Silva -- Captain on a boat in Vietnam
• Wayne Swaylk -- Served in Vietnam
• Paul Wnek -- Navy Frogman Vietnam
• Frank Reich -- Army officer in Vietnam
• Francine Main -- pilot in Bosnia and the Middle East
• Tom Jones -- Middle East

(Photos: Ferd Klebold, who landed at Normandy the day after D-Day in 1944, cuts the cake. Students talk with Manny Maroukis about his Navy service in World War II. Jeff Schenker, executive director of the Ocean County Historical Society, introduces Klebold before he cuts the cake. Students and veterans talk in the society’s Research Room. Klebold with Matthew Bruinooge and Rebecca Rosenberg. Bob and Darlene Schiederman share their experiences. An interview in the dining room. A conversation continues over lunch. Tom Jones, who served in the Middle East, talks about what he learned. Credits: Karen Wall)