WWII re-enactors bring Veterans Day to life
Abby Bennett, a 12-year-old sixth-grader at Hampshire Middle School, got to touch, look at and hold World War II memorabilia Thursday during the school's Veterans Day program.
Her reaction was suitably enthusiastic.
“Isn't this awesome? Dude! I got to try on a parachute!”
Unlike many students from across the country who get Veterans Day off, Bennett and her peers spent much of their day engrossed in vet-related school events.
For the second year in a row, Community Unit District 300 has stayed open, choosing to educate students about Veterans Day instead of leaving them to their own devices on the holiday.
“District 300 has done a good job making sure this day is a day that honors veterans and does it in a way that lets kids know what it's all about,” said Jim Wallis, principal of Hampshire Middle School.
Veterans Day commemorations of all stripe occurred all over the Fox Valley Thursday. In South Elgin, the ceremony, put on by the local VFW was more formal and a bit more somber.
In Hampshire, members of the World War II Historical Re-enactment Society set up tables in the middle school gym showing relics from the war. Students could see helmets, cameras, weapons and mortar equipment from the U.S., British and German armed forces.
Jonathan Stevens is the vice president of the society and has coordinated with Wallis both years they've been open on Veterans Day. Wallis' father was in the war, so he grew up hearing stories and seeing equipment that piqued his interest.
“World War II re-enacting brings that to the next level,” Wallis said. “You can only get so much from reading about it.”
Some of the re-enactors are veterans themselves, but most of them are just interested in the history.
The sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders all had an hour to tour the gym learning about the various equipment from the re-enactors. An afternoon assembly further recognized relatives of the middle schoolers who served in the armed forces.
Most of the students seemed happy enough to miss out on the extra day off.
“It's better than sitting at home watching TV all day,” 11-year-old Jennifer Schoedl said.