Hartsburg-Emden students honor veterans and hear experiences of local Army National Guard veteran Leonard Krusemark

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[November 07, 2015]  LINCOLN - On Friday, November 6, the Hartsburg-Emden Community Unit School District #21 held a Veteran's Day Program at Emden Elementary School to honor veterans from around the community. Third grade teacher JoEllen Westen welcomed community members and students, thanking the veterans for all they had done.

With the color guard standing at the front with flags, the students led attendees in the Pledge of Allegiance and the National Anthem.

Westen's third graders shared the story of Veteran's day telling the audience that 35 countries fought in World War I until Armistice was signed on November 11, 1918 to mark the end of the war. The students said that President Wilson made Armistice Day a National Holiday and established a moment of silence at 11:00 a.m. each November 11. They also said that after World War II the name was changed to Veteran's day to honor veterans of all wars.

Another class described each of the armed forces and asked members of the audience who had been part of the Army National Guard, Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, or Coast Guard to stand. All except the Navy and Coast Guard were represented.



The special guest speaker was Leonard Krusemark of Emden. Krusemark shared his experiences of his time in the Army National Guard as the students listened attentively. He said, "In college, I was required to take Reserve Officer Training." Krusemark said he had to drop out of college to help on the family farm, so he joined the National Guard.

Krusemark said he took a correspondence course to become an officer and when his unit was activated, he was to go to classes in Fort Benning, Georgia. He said he became involved in communication and asked the students if they knew what that meant? Krusemark said he took two courses there and was in class with students from Turkey and the Netherlands. He also told them, "My first child was born at the Army Hospital while we were in Georgia."

Krusemark said, "My unit went to Camp Cook, California, and found out they were moving units to Fort Lewis, Washington." He said, "Our job was to be a training unit and get 200 trainees, but many in the unit got sick due to the wet weather."

Krusemark said they taught the basic training to get troops ready to serve as regular soldiers. He said the haircuts and clothing "equalized everyone." Krusemark said another equalizer was that they had to keep each area in the barracks exactly the same. He said, "We had to make the beds up so tightly that a dime would be able to bounce off them." He told the students that the lockers all had to be arranged the same way.

Krusemark said they had classes where they learned marching and the commander taught them to all move the same way. He asked the students what the value of that might be?

Krusemark said all they learned that it helped them become better soldiers. He said, "Everyone learned as a group, and if one person needed help, the others helped them out."

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He said they did calisthenics to get in shape. Krusemark said to the kids that when they play, they get in good condition, but the Army requires even more than that. He said not everyone could do the twenty five mile hike and "You have to do more than you thought you could."

Krusemark said he has four grandsons who are Eagle Scouts and they had to climb mountains as part of their training. He said on one mountain climb that took two (people), one of his grandsons and another boy had to help take a boy who had appendicitis back down the mountain to get care at the base camp. Krusemark said his grandson and the other boy then had to make another two hour climb back up the mountain. He said his grandson told him he did not think he could do it, but he did.

Krusemark said that is the kind of lesson you learn in the Army. You watch out for each other and you have such camaraderie so that "whatever your buddy needs, you are there."

Krusemark said one exercise was meant to help them get used to live machine gun fire. They had to crawl in the mud and stay down to be safe. He said M80s would be thrown to cause explosions and help them prepare for that. Krusemark told the students the M80s were like big firecrackers. Krusemark said one of his scariest moments happened when a friend of his was looking at the back end of a Bazooka.

He said one time, his unit had to move their tents in the middle of the night because the area was waterlogged. Krusemark said it taught them how to put up with adversity. He said he learned a lot with a wonderful bunch of guys who threw him in a lake when they graduated.
 


After Krusemarks spoke, Westen said that in the school hallway, there is a wall of honor with photos of 80 community members who had been in the Armed Forces. She said people contributed one dollar to put names on the wall.

Westen said the school received $244 in donations that will be given to help the Land of Lincoln Honor Flight. She thanked the community for their support.

Westen said the children made pictures to send to patients at Danville Veteran's Hospital in time for Veteran's Day.

The students sang "God Bless America" and Westen closed the program with final comments to the veterans, who then posed for a group photo.

[Angela Reiners]

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