One veteran told how a native walked in front of him in the jungle one day during the Vietnam War.
Two steps later, the man hit a trip wire and was blown away.
Another vet said that after 61 days on the front lines in World War II, he couldn?t believe he was alive to talk about it.
Yet another returned home to attend graduate school at the University of Kansas. Each day for weeks, he looked down at the field as he walked to class, still searching for mines and trip wires.
At Winters Mill High on Tuesday, students ? along with 240 veterans who visited the school ? sat transfixed as they listened to the recorded voices of veterans telling their stories.
The listeners heard of hope and horror, courage and anxiety, pride and heartache, and they learned lessons you can?t get from a textbook or lecture.
“It makes it a lot more personal,” said Allie Wasmer, a senior who helped organize the event. “It makes me want to do more and get more people involved.”
Her father served in the Marines from 1983 to 1987, and her grandfather served in the Korean War in 1953.
Kirstie Troutman, a teacher at Winters Mill, also helped organize the ceremony, which this year recognized local veterans.
Her brother served in the Gulf War but died of cancer a few years ago. This was her second Veterans Day without him.
“It?s tough. Every year, I have to remember to bring tissues,” she said after rushing out of the ceremony in tears. “It?s touching that the students get very emotional too.”
Wasmer, a history buff, saw the ceremony as her way of giving back to veterans.
“They do so much for us,” Wasmer said. “I feel like it?s our duty to do something for them.”
The schools’ Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps students lined the back wall, standing at attention, until presenting and retiring the U.S. and Maryland flags.
Students are sending care packages to troops overseas later this year, and they’ll compile more veterans’ stories into a video and book publication in the spring, the first time they’ve done such a project on their own.
The school also is starting a registry of veterans who are Winters Mill alumna.
