The realities of war and what veterans have faced came home to students at Westside Elementary School Friday.
Retired Marine Cpl. Aaron Mankin talked with students and parents about service and sacrifice.
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Veterans Day is remembered on Nov. 11. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs offers more information about national events on its website at www.va.gov/opa/vetsday.
Source: Staff Report
Some give all, Mankin told the crowd. He gave his face for his country.
Mankin, a combat correspondent in Iraq and graduate of Rogers High School, was severely burned. He has had 60 surgeries in seven years through the Operation Mend program at University of California, Los Angeles.
In 2005 he was riding in the back of an amphibious assault vehicle.
“In the middle of the street, we hit a roadside bomb,” Mankin said. “Boom!”
The vehicle flew 10 feet into the air. The six Marines to his right didn’t make it, he said.
“I’m here to tell a story,” Mankin said.
He called on his audience to remember those who have served every time they see an American flag, and to think of how they, too, can serve others.
“Veterans Day, in my heart, is a call to national service,” Mankin said.
Teachers talked to students about Veterans Day all week, but when Mankin told children he gave his face for his country, that made it all sink in, said Amy Putnam, Westside principal.
People often see the glamour of war, but he is the reality, Mankin told children.
Organizers personalized this year’s program by creating community ties. A slide show showcased teachers’ relatives who have served. Mankin was raised in Rogers, attended Westside and now he has a child enrolled there. The school scheduled the program early, before Mankin leaves for national speaking engagements.
Children said they identified with Mankin’s message of honoring veterans.
“He fought in the war for five years for us,” said Natalie Martinez, a fourth-grader.
Mankin’s story was sad, she said, and some students were crying as he described his journey.
“He got in a fire,” said Ethan Rafter, a fourth-grader. “The tank he was in blew up.”
His brother is in the service and his dad was in the Army for 25 years, Ethan said.
Veterans Day is the most important holiday, Ethan said.
“We’re actually honoring someone, and if we don’t it might not make them feel very good,” he said.
Linda Maddux of Rogers came to watch her grandson, Cuyler Lindener, a Boy Scout who helped present the colors at the program. She said, however, she always attends a Veterans Day program in honor of her uncle and father who were both wounded. Her uncle would not talk about his service.
Veteran Jack Massimino was on the USS Brush when it hit a mine in 1950 off North Korea. The explosion ripped a 75-foot hole midship, Massimino said. He, too, said he regularly attends Veterans Day events.
“I come to honor my fellow shipmates who did not make it back,” he said.