It’s one thing for school children to sing “God Bless America,” “The Star Spangled Banner” and all the armed forces fight songs at Veterans’ Day assemblies all over America. It’s another to do so with 70 U.S. Veterans in their midst. That’s the history-lesson-brought-to-life that students at Cider Mill School got to experience this Veterans’ Day, Tuesday, Nov. 11 through the “Take a Veteran to School” program, sponsored by the History Channel.
“You can see a lot of programs on TV and learn from documentaries, but what you learn from someone face to face, really hearing their stories–we feel it’s really important for students not only to learn the stories veterans have to tell, but also to say, ‘Thank you for your service.’ That’s a great life lesson for any student,” says Kirsten Young from the History Channel.
The 8-year-old program brings veterans into a school from the local community, either those who reside there or who come as relatives of the students themselves. The program takes place in more than 5,000 schools across the U.S. this week in all 50 states. “It’s heartwarming, I love it,” Young says.
Young, who handles community outreach for the History Channel, also happens to a Wilton resident herself. When she spoke to the assembled students Tuesday morning at their program honoring the men and women who have served our country, she took a lot of pride in letting the students know one other very important fact–that Cider Mill was the very first school involved in the “Take a Veteran to School Program.”
“Our former president of the History Channel came to a Veterans’ Day program at Cider Mill, just like this, to see his granddaughter. He thought we should be doing this, connecting veterans to our communities. It’s really exciting that we can start that in Wilton,” Young told the assembly, adding that the more than 70 veterans taking part this year in Wilton was the largest number she’d seen at any program.
The veterans in the audience, many of them sitting with their grandchildren and children who are students at the school, were each given red flowers to commemorate their service. In the emotional highlight of the ceremony, they took part in the traditional fight song sing-along, standing with their brothers-in-arms as each of the five songs were sung by the students. (see video, below) Many veterans and other grown-ups in the audience were spotted wiping away tears after the medley finished.
Veteran Ken Olsen, whose granddaughter Erika is a fifth grader, took part in last year’s celebration, and found the experience so meaningful that he told his brother, Ron Olsen, who is also a veteran, that he needed to be a part of the event in 2014. “I said, ‘You’ve got to come, you’re going to love it.”
Like his brother predicted, Ron said he was very moved by the experience.
“I’m proud that they would do this, but it’s also classical America and a plus for the communities that do this, to instill a responsibility to young people. So they’re aware of what’s going on in the world at a young age.”
One of the veterans who spoke to the students during the event was Arthur Wiknik, Jr., a veteran of the Vietnam War. Wiknik was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1968 at the age of 19 and went on to serve with the 101st Airborne Division. He is the author of Nam Sense, a memoir of his Vietnam War experiences, he appeared in the History Channel special, “Vietnam in HD” in Nov. 2011.
“I typically speak to adult audiences and young kids haven’t had these life experiences yet. But if we don’t teach youngsters patriotism and appreciation for veterans now, they’ll never know it. I think these kind of programs are not just wonderful but are absolutely necessary,” Wiknik says.
Teaching children why they are able to go to school with so few worries, thanks in large part to some very brave people who have given so much in service to this country is a hefty concept to teach. Wiknik says he hopes his message is something the children can understand.
“When a person goes into the military, it’s not just that they’re away for one or two years, on vacation. Everything they know, their life for the most part is put on hold. It’s an emotionally trying time, but the one thing I look back on that I’m grateful for is that it made me the man and the person I am today,” he says, adding, “We live in the best country in the world, with more opportunities and that’s because people were willing to die and serve to make that happen.”
Cider Mill principal Jennifer Mitchell reinforced how important it is to make sure the children in her school get the opportunity to celebrate American veterans. “To bring them closer, to build that compassion and understanding for what they gave for us and for our freedom is amazing. It strikes me how thankful the vets are that we do this, and it’s hard not to be emotional. It’s an amazing experience for our students and for our veterans.”
Congressman Jim Himes also attended the morning event at Cider Mill, and he said that the always appreciates being at events honoring those who have served in the armed forces.
“What’s really important about this is reminding Americans of the incredible sacrifice and act involved in serving your country. The vast majority don’t understand what it means to serve, so this is the kind of thing that reminds of the incredible sacrifice our veterans have made. It’s great that kids take a moment to think about the history of our country and who has made that history possible,” Himes says.