Published: November 14, 2008 04:01 pm            

Civics class tackles tough questions

PRINCETON — Understandably, Mercer County resident and Vietnam veteran Al Hancock takes a very special pride in the dedicated service of all of his fellow American veterans and the current members of the armed forces. Wednesday, along with three other local veterans, Hancock seized the opportunity to share that pride with a group of interested Princeton Senior High School students at the school’s first-ever Take a Veteran to School Day.

“The veterans have paid a heck of a price for us to be able to sit here and talk today,” Hancock told students in PSHS civics and American History classes and members of the school’s JROTC and Model U.N. organizations. “We get to walk around and breathe in this good, fresh air because of what they did for us. You need to thank a veteran every chance you get.”

Encouraging students to recognize the significance of that selfless service was the inspiration behind the development of the Take a Veteran to School Day program. Co-sponsored by the West Virginia Cable Telecommunications Association and The History Channel, the unique project was initiated in 12 high schools around the state this week. In addition to bringing veterans representing several different American conflicts into the schools, the program brought those veterans together with high school and college students who recorded the men and women’s oral histories for placement in the Library of Congress.

“This is a very special opportunity for Princeton Senior High School,” Principal Jack Parker told the students who filled the schools Little Theater at the introduction of the event. “We are one of just 12 schools in the state receiving this chance to really show our appreciation for the people who have served our country. This is an inspiration to always remember that these are the folks who provided the freedom we have today.”

The veterans who took part in the PSHS program brought to life the fact that that freedom comes at a very high cost. Throughout the event, World War II veteran William Henry Sanders II, Korean War veteran Tony Whitlow, Iraqi Freedom veteran Lee Price and Hancock presented very vivid stories of their war experience to the attentive students.

“I remember one battle, I was the only officer standing by nightfall,” said the 92-year-old Sanders, in perhaps the most touching of the recollections. “We killed 360 Japanese that night; the general told me to do the head count, and I did and there were 360. I received the Bronze Star when it was all over with.”

In his frail but determined voice, Sanders went on to describe another battle, the bloodiest in which he fought. After he and two others found and killed the Japanese soldiers that had been the source of shots and grenades fired at several of their Marine counterparts, he said, he captured a Japanese flag and a Samurai sword before being placed on a stretcher for treatment. As he laid on the stretcher, Sanders recalls turning his head to look at the grenades flying around him.

“When I turned my head, I got this pretty little scar right here on my neck from a shot fired at me,” he said. “Had I not turned my head, it’d have hit me right between the eyes. That’s a little bit of the divine providence that stayed with me like it stayed with George Washington in his many battles and close calls.”

Hancock shook his head continually as Sanders remembered the many times he had held hands with death during his brave service, an experience that can only be shared by the veterans who have been there. Whitlow, the founder of Princeton’s Those Who Served Veterans Museum, said that among the stories of so many veterans who have given their all for their country, Sanders’ experience stands out.

“There is an exhibit in our museum that really brings home to me the sacrifices made by our veterans,” he said. “One part of that display is that Japanese flag that William captured. On that flag is his blood, still, after all these years. He won the Navy Cross for that action. He is my hero; that’s how I look at him.”

Hancock, who spent more than 23 years in the Air Force and served two tours in Vietnam, is a hero in his own right. He returned home from Vietnam with a combat ribbon with four battle stars.

“When we got to Vietnam, it was 6 in the morning,” he recalled. “Believe it or not, that early, it was 110 degrees. We had to sit out in this big field, waiting, and I remember thinking, ‘Al Hancock, just what have you got yourself into?’”

Emotionally, Hancock told the students that Sanders’ recollections brought tears to his eyes.

“I wasn’t in combat, but I can relate to some of the things he talked about,” he said. “There were two mortuaries in Vietnam, and I remember many times when the helicopters would bring the body bags. They wouldn’t land; they’d just drop them on the ramps. A lot of times, the bags were no longer than I can stretch my arms out; those were the bodies that had been blown apart. Things like that stick with me.”

Hancock said that it’s impossible for anyone to grasp the complexity of war without being there, thousands of miles from home and in the heat of the battle.

“The reason so many of us don’t talk about it is because if you weren’t there, we’ve done so many different things that you’d have a tendency not to believe it,” he said.

Of all the veterans present, Price’s experience with war was the most recent. With the portrayal of his vivid memories, he took the PSHS students to the war that has been in the headlines for much of their lives, Iraqi Freedom.

“When we got over there, we went into Kuwait because that was a safe zone,” he explained. “When we crossed into Iraq, I could tell there was a big difference. I didn’t know what to expect, but I knew it would be hot. The hottest I felt it was 128 degrees; it was so hot that you had to wear gloves because whatever you touched would burn you.”

Price brought to life the many dangers of being stationed in Iraq, where he stayed for 11 months.

“At night, it was safer, because we had night vision, and the Iraqis didn’t,” he said. “During the day, you’d try to lay down on a cot, and it’d be 120 degrees. If you didn’t wake up every hour, you’d dehydrate in your sleep. I lost friends over there, and I saw a lot of different things. I was there more than 11 months, and I was never happier to be leaving.”

After the program, which also included a touching performance by PSHS’ Madrigal Singers, the presentation of the colors by the JROTC, and PSHS senior Aaron Owens’ performance of Taps, Whitlow expressed his satisfaction in the event that he said taught students about the under-appreciated service of American veterans.

“Most of the time, veterans don’t talk about their war experience,” he said. “This program was important because it let us talk to these students and make them realize more the sacrifice that veterans made for them and for all of us.”

PSHS student Dakota Farmer seemed to receive that message loud and clear.

“This program was just a great opportunity to thank the men and women who have fought for us and a good time to recognize that service,” he said. “It was good for these history classes to learn a little more about where freedom comes from.”

— Contact CharLy Markwart at cmarkwart@ptonline.net.

        

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