A page in history was brought to life as De Soto High School students got a unique opportunity to spend the day with local WWII veterans.
“That's absolutely the most relevant way to learn and hopefully if nothing else, there will be certain experiences they'll never forget,” social studies teacher, Lynn Hoffman said.
“It gives us like a really personal level to look at the stories, to actually look at the hardships they were in,” high school junior, Levi Hansen said.
It’s those hardships WWII veteran, Roy Shenkel says, he hopes no one ever experiences.
“What I went through, I wouldn't want to see any of these young people to see, to have to go through that, but it taught me a lot,” Shenkel said. “It taught me a lesson. The secret is kindness and love. When you see people abused or hurt, it takes a lot out of you.”
Shenkel, who was a B17 Waist Gunner with the Army Air Corps, was a prisoner of war for more than a year at just 20 years old.
“When you lose your freedom, you have nothing, you have no one to go to,” Shenkel said. “They tell you what to do, how to do it, and tell you how to do it, and you better do right.”
As WWII veterans share personal stories and artifacts, it’s a message about freedom that students, like Camille Pulain, aren’t taking for granted.
“I think it kind of forces the question of what we really think about our country and how special it is that we live in America as opposed to anywhere else in the world,” Pulain said. “It makes me really grateful to think that there are people still here who fought for the freedom that we now have, that otherwise we wouldn't have at all.”
A real life history lesson Hoffman hopes students can take with them and realize they are capable of creating history.
“The WWII veterans were just regular people just like us who opportunity was called upon them and they responded,” Hoffman said. “And they can do those exact same things and I tihnk if they see that first hand, maybe they'll remember that when they come to an opportunity to do it.”
This is the first year De Soto High School held this event.
They hope to continue this for years to come.
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Rae Daniel can be reached at Rae.Daniel@KSHB.com.
