Honoring our Fallen Veterans

Teaching the meaning of Memorial Day to children

To most kids (and to many adults), Memorial Day marks the beginning of summer. We barbecue hamburgers, take a trip to the park, or plant flowers since there’s no longer the threat of frost.

To families who have lost loved ones in the service of our country, however, the meaning runs deeper than a cookout. We want our children to understand what Memorial Day means to our country’s history and our fallen soldiers’ families. How do we do this?

Make it personal

A few weeks ago, our son-in-law, a social studies teacher in a Michigan public school, told us he was participating in a school trip to Washington D.C., which included our granddaughter, an eighth-grade student there.

The first thing my husband, Don, wondered was if the Vietnam Memorial Wall would be on their schedule.

They were just kids on the block

John Matuska grew up on the same street as Don in close-knit family neighborhood in Garfield Heights, Ohio. Both of them were born in 1948. Don and John weren’t best buddies or anything, but they certainly knew each other well enough.

The Army sent Matuska to Long Khanh, South Vietnam. The Air Force sent Don to Nakhon Phanom (aka Naked Fanny), Thailand.

Well, Don came home in 1970. Sadly, John Matuska did not. He died in September 1968 along with three other Blackhorse troopers on a reconnaissance mission when their aircraft came under enemy fire.

Finding John

When Don learned of the school field trip, he said to me, “Should I ask if they’re going to the the Wall? Maybe they could look for my friend’s name? I know the section…”

Then he started second-guessing himself, wondering if it was appropriate, imagining that the teachers and students probably had a packed schedule. The last thing he wanted was to give our son-in-law a task that might slow them down, or take him away from the students.

I told Don to at least give him the information. “You never know,” I said. ”They may even want to help look for John’s name. The Wall might have more meaning to them then.”

So Don passed along Matuska’s information along with the panel number and line, and left it up to our son-in-law.

Then, a week later, Don got a text message with this image:

Don’s eyes welled when he read the rest of text: 55 students had followed him to find Matuska’s name. Fifty five!

Fifty-five kids

You see, on a jam-packed day with a tour guide, our granddaughter, son-in-law, and his group visited to the WWII Memorial, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Arlington Cemetery, the Lincoln Memorial and more, they finally reached the Vietnam Memorial Wall. The guide told a story about trying to find his mother’s high school boyfriend on the wall, and then asked if the students had the name of anyone they wanted to find.

Our granddaughter raised her hand and said her grandfather’s friend’s name was there, and then she looked to her dad. He explained further, ”Yes, and my father-in-law told me where to find him.”

Suddenly, the Wall, and the war, became personal to the students — A classmate’s grandfather had been in Vietnam, and his friend had died there. In combat. Fifty-five students who had been your typical, slow-poke, pain-in-the-butt fourteen-year-olds were suddenly intrigued. Invested. They were all ready to help find Matuska.

Lest We Forget

Our son-in-law said it was gratifying to see the children scrolling and scrolling, excitedly searching through all the names on the panel until they finally found him. Then they gawked— “That’s the guy?!” and ”Your father-in-law was friends with this guy?” Kids who had never known Matuska were now deeply involved in his story, wanting to know what he did, what happened, wanting to learn more about Vietnam.

Their search for him on the Memorial Wall is now part of their personal history, and something about their school trip to D.C. that they will carry with them.

Don is heartened to know that a fellow soldier in the Vietnam War is remembered and honored.

The students know John J. Matuska as more than just a name on a wall.

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Linda K. Sienkiewicz is a writer, poet, and artist.
Learn more about her multi-award winning novel, In the Context of Love.
Learn more about her picture book, Gordy and the Ghost Crab.
Learn more about her poetry chapbook, Security

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