Veterans Bring Vietnam History to BOCES Classroom

Apparently it was the canned ham and eggs that proved to be too much for the soldiers.

When Vietnam veterans Dan Griffin and Vito Pinto visited Debra Haggerty’s Learning Center class at Blue Mountain Middle School this spring, they shared first-person accounts of life during the war. Griffin’s vivid descriptions of daily struggles in the jungle captured the attention of his young audience, especially his memories regarding some particularly inedible food. “Even dogs wouldn’t eat it,” Griffin said.

Beyond the awful-tasting and expired C-rations, Griffin and Pinto described some of their most frightening experiences during the war. Griffin, who served in the infantry, mentioned night watches and the fear of surprise attacks.  Pinto, a Navy pilot, shared the experience of being inside a plane when it was shot, showing the students “after” photos of the aircraft with its side blown out.

Haggerty’s students had just begun reading Shooting the Moon, a novel set in the Vietnam era, when she invited the veterans to her classroom to share their personal experiences and “bring the book to life.”  Earlier in the school year, she employed a similar strategy, inviting Donna Simone, founder of a local organization helping those in need, to visit the classroom as the students began reading Monkey Island, a book about a homeless child in New York City. After Simone’s visit “there seemed to be an increased interest in the literature,” said Haggerty.

The Learning Center class at Blue Mountain Middle School is part of Putnam/Northern Westchester BOCES’ Local School Buildings Program.

Jason Clearwater, a student in Haggerty’s class, has studied the Vietnam conflict on his own and really valued the visit by the veterans. “Military life is a lot harder than civilian life,” he commented.  His classmate, Nicholas Zito concurred, adding, “It was scary to hear about what they went through, under really hard conditions.” Both students said that the veterans’ stories gave them a greater appreciation for their own lives.