Wheaton school celebrates Medal of Honor recipient
James Howard Monroe Middle School Principal Jason Stipp choked up Friday when telling an audience about what the Wheaton school’s namesake means to his students.
From a chair behind him, Michelle Monroe Gattas saw that as confirmation that her family’s decision to let the school house the Medal of Honor her “Uncle Jimmy” was awarded was the right one.
“That’s part of the reason we knew this was right,” Gattas said. “That was sort of the clincher.”
During an hourlong dedication ceremony, Stipp had to compose himself several times as he told Gattas what it meant to have the medal in the school.
“Thank you for sharing so much with us,” he told Gattas. “Thank you for giving the Medal of Honor a new home.”
The heavily patriotic ceremony, deliberately planned for the Friday before Memorial Day, included the school’s band playing several songs and U.S. flags being waved throughout the crowd. Local dignitaries and veterans, as well as Monroe Middle School students, looked on.
Stipp recounted the story of how the school landed the honor. In a coincidence Gattas called “fate,” the school’s assistant principal, Sue Baldus, called her just as the Wisconsin resident was in Wheaton visiting James Howard Monroe’s gravesite.
The program, which was broadcast live for U.S. troops stationed in Afghanistan, included 18 Patriot Guard riders as well as comments from Stipp, Wheaton Warrenville Unit District 200 Superintendent Brian Harris and U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam.
Gattas also addressed the crowd and directed specific remarks to the students looking on. She implored them to take the six traits that have traditionally defined Medal of Honor recipients — courage, sacrifice, patriotism, citizenship, integrity and commitment — with them when they leave the school.
“I am excited that you are understanding the link between my uncle’s sacrifice and those principles,” she said.
In the Hoai Nhon Province on Feb. 16, 1967, during the Vietnam War, Monroe jumped on a live grenade to smother it and save the lives of two fellow soldiers.
Monroe’s parents accepted the medal in 1968 and the following year, the school district named the school after the war hero.
“It was not an easy time in the country’s history,” Superintendent Harris told the audience. “When we were building the school at that time, the community recognized that it was a unique opportunity to honor one of its sons. We will do our best to protect (the medal) for the family’s namesake.”
Roskam said he was taken aback when he learned of Monroe’s actions.
“You are measured and humbled when you hear about what James Howard Monroe did,” he said. “What is it about a person that does that? Ultimately, it’s love and a sense of duty and a sacrifice that he is willing, literally and with no ambiguity, to give his life to others.”
After graduating from Wheaton Central High School in 1962, Monroe was drafted into the Army in 1966. When he jumped on the grenade, Pfc. Monroe was serving as a medic and on the battlefield looking to help those wounded in an attack.
As part of the program, students created presentations related to the six traits the Medal of Honor recognizes.
“I am at a loss for words,” Gattas said of the ceremony. “It’s just more than we expected. It’s so humbling and we feel so proud.”
“(Jimmy) is nodding on us, nodding down,” Gattas said. “He would say ‘Way to go, family. You represented us well.’”