Researching and The Wall

Just realized this one never published...  It was in my drafts.  I was writing this at work on 4/10/13:

The Vietnam Memorial Wall has a smaller travelling display which is coming to the Wayne Community College Campus next week.  My principal decided to take 2 children from each classroom in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grades out to see it.  She asked me to pull these children into the media center to do research on the Vietnam War prior to the field trip so that they would have an understanding of what they're seeing.  I didn't feel the Vietnam War itself was really an age-appropriate topic for such young children, so I began looking for aspects I was comfortable with teaching so that I wasn't flat-out defying her wishes, while still giving the students a meaningful and engaging experience.

One of the websites I came across was that of the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial Fund where you can search for names on the wall.  I wanted to see how many men were from Goldsboro, just out of pure curiosity.  There I found that we have 20 "Hometown Heroes" included on the Memorial.  The database shows you their names, rank, branch of service, hometown, birthdate, casualty date, location, and a photograph.

Of the 20 local men listed, only 19 have been accounted for.  One man is still lacking a photo.  That sparked my interest.

At the local library, old newspapers are kept on microfiche and are searchable.  There is a possibility that the  newspaper ran his obituary since this was his hometown and he likely had family in the area.  In another room of the library, they keep things like old High School Yearbooks from the area schools.  I know when I think of my "hometown," it's where I lived when I went to high school that comes to mind (we moved every few years growing up).  It's possible that he could be in one of the yearbooks at the library!

I spoke to my principal about what I wanted to do -- find this man's photo and add it in remembrance to the database -- and she was elated.  I then approached the Director of the Wayne County Public Library and she was also excited about the opportunity to locate this man.  I'm so excited to get started!!

I'm going to be bringing these students into the library to read them The Wall by Eve Bunting.  I have a nonfiction book on the memorial as well, A Wall of Names:  The Story of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial by Judy Donnelly.  I'll then show them the website and show them the memorials to our hometown heroes.

** As a follow-up, we did go out to the public library to research SFC Frank Smith.  The kids learned a lot about him, but still no picture.  They learned he was an African American man from Goldsboro.  He died in Vietnam, either from asphyxiation or drowning.  He is buried at Ft. Benning, GA.

We then went out to the Wall to look at the names and find him.  There was another man also a teacher was looking for.  I can't think of his name now...  He was also from Goldsboro...  He enlisted at 15 (he lied about his age) and joined the Marine Corps.  He was the youngest military person killed in Vietnam.  Her church "remembers" him each year on Memorial Day.  The kids really enjoyed this trip though, and they loved their time in the library.  The History Room is off to the back, completely enclosed from the rest of the library, and it's like a whole different world in there.  The kids LOVED it.  My photos are all at school...  I'll have to remember to edit this later so I can share.  :)