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 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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