War veterans meet with Grayslake North students
Grayslake North High School students received insight from a panel of military veterans as part of a special Profiles of Courage program Friday.
One veteran who particularly captured the students' attention was Del Geary, 95, of Libertyville, who served in World War II as a U.S. Army Air Corps pilot. Geary was nattily dressed with a military cap and leather jacket.
Profiles of Courage featured Grayslake North's band playing military music, and a student in each grade singing the national anthem before all four assemblies.
Students posed questions to the panel of 20 veterans. Geary was among the vets who answered when asked how military experience affected their lives.
Geary said he was a poor student who gained much by joining the armed services.
“I would like to say to you juniors, if you get screwed up a little bit along the way, the military will really make a man out of you,” Geary said. “Probably the best education that's possible to get and it led to a great life.”
Henry de Groh, an Army veteran who served in the Korean War, didn't mince words about the military's effect on him.
“I went in a boy and came out a man,” said de Groh, a Grayslake resident.
Grayslake North teacher Thomas Iverson, who assisted in leading the program, responded to a question about what it was like being in the military and protecting the United States.
In 2008, Iverson went on leave from his Grayslake North job and was sent to Afghanistan as an Army Reserve sergeant attached to the 826 Ordnance Company in Rockford. “When you hear the national anthem, it stirs a lot up in you,” Iverson said. “And you have a new kind of respect for where we are and the privileges that we have.”
One of the panelists who served in the Vietnam War, Frank White of Grayslake, singled out the students during the session for juniors when asked what Veterans Day means to him.
“I would like to compliment all of you for being here, to recognize the veterans who come out to participate. It tells me that the future generation that you represent are a very strong group, are very committed to your community and to the people around you,” said White, an Army vet.