Hatboro-Horsham Schools Honor Vets With New Memorial

Hatboro-Horsham students celebrated Veterans Day with numerous events.

Pennypack Elementary third graders talked with a U.S. Navy veteran about the medical care to both other military volunteers and Iraqi kids. Keith Valley Middle School students served breakfast to about 160 local veterans. And Hatboro-Horsham High School announced that $20,000 has been raised for a permanent Veterans Memorial honoring members of all five service branches.

These Veterans Day events were all part of a district-wide effort to thank and embrace local veterans while giving students the chance to learn history from those who lived it.

Keith Valley American History and Social Studies teacher Jim Iaia, himself a former Navy Seabee and National Guard veteran, hoped his school’s event gave students an additional, broader lessen as well. “I hope they see that people give to the community in general and put others before themselves,” he said. “You do what you can do help others. It doesn’t have to be landing on a beach head, it can be taking out the trash for an elderly neighbor.”

It was Keith Valley’s most well-attended Veterans Day Breakfast ever, said Principal Jonathan Kircher. The cafeteria was packed with students, veterans and vet’s spouses. Sixth-grader Glen Hayes III invited his dad, U.S. Marine Corp veteran Glenn Hayes Jr. The father downplayed his role on the U.S.S. Okinawa, guarding a mine sweeper in the Persian Gulf in the 1990s. The son wouldn’t have it. “You protected important people and important things,” he said, beaming with obvious pride. “You did well, Soldier.”

Hayes Jr. said especially with the current conflicts the United States is involved with, it’s important for people his son’s age to know what service entails. His son knows. “I’m proud to be a part of this country, proud we fight for many things like freedom and democracy,” he said. It was his dad’s turn to be proud.

Eighth-grader Kole Smith sat between his grandfathers and Army veterans, Joe Notorianni, who served in Vietnam, and Mike Novak, who served in Korea. “It’s really cool that they came, and it’s nice to thank them for everything they did,” Kole said.

“It’s really special that the young people and the School District take the time to remember what the veterans actually did,” Notorianni said. Novak agreed, then smiled and added that the free breakfast is a good reason to come, too. Another grandfather, Korean War Veteran Victor Petsis, was impressed by the outpouring, and enjoyed breakfasting with granddaughter Samantha Johnson. Samantha, a seventh grader, said it felt great to honor her grandfather. Looking at all the veterans gathered in one place was a powerful experience that’s much different from reading about wars in books, she said. “They’ve been on the battle field, and seeing them all here today and knowing they survived that” makes the lesson more real, she said.

Many vets said they also appreciated the time to talk to each other about experiences only another veteran can understand. Several local officials and other dignitaries took the podium to thank them. Students left handmade thank you cards in red, white and blue at every seat.

Navy veteran Terry Beans said everything about the day helped make up for the cold reception he and other Vietnam Veterans got when they returned from war. “We were told not to wear our uniforms, because it might not be safe,” he said. This week’s event, which he heard about during his weekly volunteering stint at Hallowell Elementary, was “very much appreciated,” he said. “It feels good now. It feels right.”

Hatboro-Horsham High School Memorial

It was at the Keith Valley event that High School Choral Director William Naydan announced that thanks to efforts and donations from students, faculty, the education association and other local groups and businesses, the $20,000-fundraising goal for a veterans’ memorial outside the high school had been reached. “I ordered the monument on Friday,” he said, and the room erupted in applause. The monument, which is expected to be erected in May 2015, will consist of three granite stones. It will honor all five military branches, Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard. A POW-MIA logo will also be etched into the black granite, as well as a quote from Harry Truman: “The debt to our brave men and valiant women in the service of our country can never be repaid.”

Pennypack Elementary Students Question History Makers

At the invitation of Pennypack Elementary Third-grade Teacher Jessica Flack, several veterans told about 50 third graders about their varied experiences and answered their many questions, too.

The students giggled when Navy veteran Zachary Rowe told them he didn’t really know what a Fleet Marine Force Hospital Corpsman was until the Navy suggested he’d be a good one. He explained a corpsman is a medic, and he was assigned to accompany the 1st Marine Division wherever they went, because they don’t have medical staff of their own.

Rowe said that not only did he and the other Corpsmen help Marines who got hurt, they spent much of their time helping Iraqi civilians. “Did you ever help any kids?” asked Selena Carrion. “We were out in the desert when a mom asked us to help her son, who had a broken leg. We did,” Rowe said. “What if you got hurt?” asked Catie Bombas. “I tried very hard not to get hurt, but if I had, we had trained our Marines how to help us,” Rowe said.

Rowe also gave students a chance to talk about the meaning of Veterans Day. He showed them pictures of Arlington National Ceremony and a certain tomb. “Does anyone know what this is?” he asked. Nathaniel Snyder identified the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. “They don’t know who it is,” Nathaniel said. Rowe told the students it’s among the most sacred of memorials.

Air Force Veteran Olena Lind shared a story about her time in a large plane that connected with another plane in mid-air to fuel it, much to the students’ amazement. She emphasized the power of women and their important role in the armed forces.

Navy veteran Harry Koper, an aviator who served in Vietnam, brought his uniform and a model of the plane in which he flew. He clued the students in on some Navy secrets: Only aviators are allowed to wear brown shoes. They call their hats “covers,” and the braiding on the bill “scrambled eggs.”

Koper used the little model of the huge plane to bring his experiences to life, pointing to the place up front where he sat and the large magnet in back that would point down when attracted by the metal of an underwater submarine.

It took 13,000 gallons of fuel to fill that plane, he told the students, who gasped right along with their teacher. “How much did that cost?” one student asked. “We call it the double-Cadillac load, because you can buy two Cadillacs for that amount,” Koper said.

“He’s so cool!” one student whispered to another.

PHOTO CAPTION:

PhotoAHarryKoper: Navy Veteran Harry Koper, an aviator who served in Vietnam, captivates Pennypack Elementary third-graders with stories illustrated with a model of his plane.