SALISBURY, Md. - At a ceremony Monday evening at North Salisbury Elementary School, about 150 students from across Wicomico County honored veterans - in a unique way.
"If you don't learn about history, you'll repeat it, and many bad things have happened in history, " said Zoe, a fifth grader, about one of the most important reasons we record and study history.
Through interviews and photographs, the they put together the stories of 19 Vietnam veterans.
The students learned about the vets and their experiences, while at the same time learning the importance of recording history.
The veterans featured were impressed with their professional approach.
Even after asking the prepared questions, the students followed up with their own curious questions about life in the Vietnam theatre.
"We even talked about the children [of Vietnam]," said Lt. Col. Melvin George Smullen, who served in the U.S. Army. "Did I see any children, did the children go to school. What did I do when I came back home, was I glad to be back home, and et cetera."
The students' investigations gave them a vivid picture of the realities of war.
"[We learned] about how dangerous it really was," said Zoe. "We heard stories about how he'd be walking through the jungle and all of a sudden, there'd just be a booby trap and someone would get hurt; some people died from that."
These young folks, whom we can now call historians, shared these veterans' stories in picturebooks.
The students' work gives the veterans hope for a bright future for our nation.
"It seems like generation to generation, I can remember my grandparents were like 'Oh, you kids'," said Petty Officer 2nd Class John Buchanan, a veteran of the U.S. Navy. "But it makes me believe that when we leave here, we're leaving it in good hands."
The picturebooks were professionally bound and will be placed in the school library for future students who want to learn more about Vietnam veterans.
The picturebooks are also available for purchase at veteran2022.shutterfly.com.