Vernon Hills veterans treated and honored by students

It wasn't clear if the eighth-grade girl was getting the full impact of soldier's war stories.

Stories of shooting and getting shot at. Stories of sleeping in the snow and not showering for five weeks.

Donald H. Carter told student Alex Lebiedzinski about fighting in some of the most epic battles of World War II. "I was part of the D-Day invasion," said the 84-year-old Libertyville man. "That was in June of 1944. Then the following December, I was in the Battle of the Bulge."

"The battle of what?" she said.

If Lebiedzinski didn't have full knowledge of our country's military history, that's OK, because the annual event at Hawthorn Middle School South was designed to not only honor veterans but also to educate the students on wars, past and present.

About 35 veterans, some with their wives and children, attended the fourth annual Veterans Day Breakfast at the school in Vernon Hills. The vets were treated to a meal, listened to selections from the school's symphonic band and heard remarks from Vernon Hills Village President Roger Byrne and state Sen. Terry Link, among others.

Elmer Hoskins, a member of VFW Post 8741 in Libertyville, said the veterans were not the only ones on the receiving end of the program. "I think this gives the students a little sense of patriotism," he said. "They seem to enjoy talking with us and we do, too."

The educational piece of the morning came when dozens of students conducted one-on-one interviews with the veterans. As part of the Veterans Military History Project, the children asked questions about all aspects of the vets' military experience. They will follow up by writing an essay that will be sent to the Library of Congress.

Carter pointed to the many pins on his service cap to help Lebiedzinski understand his experience. "Now this one here, has five brown stars on a colored background," he explained. "Each star symbolizes a major European battle that I was part of."

Scribbling as fast as she could, Lebiedzinski recorded the story, at points shaking her head in disbelief.

"Were you ever scared?" she asked.

Carter smiled.

"When you're in combat you're scared skinny. You're scared all the time," he said. "People are getting killed every day and you don't want to be one of them. You shoot at them and they shoot back. That's the way it was."

A member of the Marine Corps, James Hulse served six months in Iraq. The 26-year-old from Vernon Hills said he hopes the students will benefit from hearing the stories.

"It's great if they can learn something from what we did," he said. "They can learn to make right choices from hearing our experience."