http://www.htrnews.com/article/20100410/MAN0101/4100422/1984/MANbusiness
By Cindy Hodgson
April 10, 2010
MANITOWOC Thomas Molteni, a senior at Lincoln High School, had
heard Vietnam veterans speak during Lincoln's annual in-school field
trip when he was a sophomore, but it was different when he heard them
again Friday.
As a sophomore, the day of speakers was just another event in history
class, he said. Now that he's older and has decided to join the Army
ROTC, he had a different perspective this time around.
Molteni said he felt he could connect with the veterans this time,
and he has more of an appreciation for how much they gave during the
war and are giving now in coming to talk to the students.
Some of the stories were the same as two years ago, but "they're
still pretty remarkable," he said.
Lincoln has held the in-school field trip about the Vietnam War for
at least 14 years, according to social studies teacher Paul Goswitz.
Individual veterans came to speak to classes for a couple of years
before that at the invitation of now-retired teacher Donna Franz, an
associate member of the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 731.
The social studies department head at that time decided to turn it
into a bigger event, Goswitz said. Now it's part of the sophomore
American History curriculum, and students taking the Advanced
Placement U.S. History class, like Molteni, also attended.
Speakers were from Manitowoc County's Chapter 731, and a chapter from
Appleton also brought speakers and a large amount of memorabilia.
Goswitz estimated 25 to 30 veterans and associate members
participated in this year's event.
Veterans were stationed in seven rooms, and students rotated
throughout the presentations, each student having a chance to attend
four sessions. The event concluded with all of the participating
students attending a solemn recognition program.
"I just wish more people could hear about this than just us," said
sophomore Abby Moss, who'd never heard Vietnam veterans speak before.
"I think it's amazing at what these men have suffered through," Moss
said, and that they're not afraid to talk about it.
Having the veterans come and speak shows the students the Vietnam War
is more than "just something in the history books," she said.
Therapy
It's beneficial for the speakers, too.
"Therapy," said veteran Richard Luchsinger when asked why he has
participated every year of the official event plus two years prior.
"It's good therapy for the veterans," Luchsinger said, explaining
that talking about bad things that happen gets it out of one's system.
Luchsinger said he had been having flashbacks but they have reduced
in frequency and severity since he started sharing his memories at
the school's annual Vietnam day.
Luchsinger, a 1962 Lincoln graduate who served in the Navy and Marine
Corps, was on a panel with Ken Decker, a 1958 Lincoln grad who served
in the Navy, and Karen Seipel, whose first husband, Barry Kellenbenz,
a 1963 Lincoln graduate, was killed in Vietnam.
A wife's story
Seipel, an associate member of Chapter 731, said her husband was
drafted into the U.S. Army and worked his way up to second
lieutenant. He had been in charge of his platoon less than a month
when he was killed at age 24 in a firefight trying to save a medic.
Seipel, then 23, was at work when she learned he had been killed. She
was called into the office where two Army officers in dress greens
were waiting. She knew immediately what had happened, and her "whole
world turned black and white," she said. She was shocked, despite
having had a premonition the night before that he was dead, and she
had to be held up.
She spoke of hearing her father-in-law wailing inside the house while
she was still outside and of waiting almost three weeks for her
husband's body to arrive.
"I miss him every day," she said.
Despite it being decades ago, Seipel said not a day goes by that
there isn't something she wants to share with him.
Seipel, who has been speaking at the school for the last several
years, said the other veterans have told her that her participation
makes "the circle complete" because she can share the aspect of
accepting a body returned from Vietnam.
Moss said she was shocked to learn how long the process was for
Seipel to get her husband's body returned and take care of all of the
arrangements. She referred to how "torturous it must have been."
Molteni said he thought it was good the students got to hear that
side of it, and also that there was a mix in terms of the branches of
service represented.
Student questions
The presentations focused on answering students' questions, and one
was about the "rumor" of many military personnel using drugs during
the Vietnam War.
It's not a rumor, according to the veterans.
"There's a lot of people got sucked into this drug thing," Luchsinger said.
He offered the following advice to any students entering the
military: "Before you go in, get your mind straight," he said. "Leave
that crap alone. It's not going to do you any good whatsoever."
Decker said he was afraid to do drugs because he feared his parents'
reaction if he came home on drugs.
Back then, "you were still afraid of your mother and father," he said.
Another student asked about their interactions with the South
Vietnamese people.
"They had no desire to be at war," Luchsinger said. "We didn't want
the war. It was a government thing on both ends."
Luchsinger said he initially didn't have an opinion as to whether the
war was right or wrong, but when he went back to Vietnam after time
in the Philippines and Antarctica, the war was escalating. He
realized the people didn't want to be fighting, and it seemed the
government's focus was on body counts. He became opposed to the war,
and he still believes the U.S. should not have been involved.
Nonetheless, he and Decker both said they'd do it all again "in a heartbeat."
They were asked about readjusting to life after Vietnam.
For Decker, the most difficult was the shape his beloved 1956 Pontiac
two-door hardtop was in when he returned after six years. It had been
covered with a canvas in his parents' garage, but it had so much dirt
on it that it took him a week or two to clean it.
"That was my baby when I left," he said.
Luchsinger was away for eight years, and much had changed when he
returned, such as music, fashion and vehicles. He said it felt like a
big void in his life.
"I still have the feeling today," he said.
He also hadn't realized the extent of the anti-war protests going on
even though he heard about them in letters from home.
The American history curriculum is moving to the junior high level,
so this was the last time Lincoln will host the Vietnam event.
Goswitz said both junior high schools have expressed interest in
doing it, but the logistics have yet to be worked out.
Molteni said he hopes they do offer it, but he thinks it was better
at the high school. In fact, as a senior now, he thinks it would be
better for seniors than for sophomores.
"You definitely look at it in a different light," he said.
--
Cindy Hodgson: (920) 686-2966 or chodgson@htrnews.com
.
0 comments:
Post a Comment