Honoring veterans: CRHS hosts Take a Veteran to School Day
The Logan Banner
November 12, 2008
CHAPMANVILLE - Chapmanville Regional High School was one of 12 schools
state-wide kicking off the Take a Veteran to School day program in West Virginia
on Monday, Nov. 10. Veterans representing all conflicts talked to CRHS students
about their real-life war experiences.
"Every
day, 1,500 United States Veterans die before their impressive personal histories
can be recorded," said Michael Kelemen, a Suddenlink executive and President of
the West Virginia Cable Telecommunications Association, which is sponsoring the
12 school events. "Nearly 200,000 Veterans live in West Virginia and it is the
mission of the Take a Veteran to School Day initiative to ensure that these
Veterans' stories are heard, remembered and revered."
Among those speaking to CRHS students was Frank Goff, president of the West
Virginia Korean War Veterans Association.
"We came to honor veterans and it was a beautiful program," Goff, a Charleston
native said. "It's make me real proud that I served and it informs the students
on their responsibilities on their obligation to their country and to each
other. It was a beautiful program and the veterans did exceptionally well. None
of them tried to elate themselves or take credit for something they didn't do,
which is common among veterans. No veteran toots his own horn; somebody has to
toot it for him."
Goff said he crusades to help get Korean War veterans the recognition they
deserve. The Korean War is often called the forgotten war since it happened from
1950-1953, falling between World War II and the Vietnam Conflict. According to
Goff, the Korean War was one of the bloodiest wars of our country.
"I was in Japan, when the war started. I was on ambiguous maneuvers when they
decided to intervene in Korea," Goff said. "On the third and fourth of July we
were actually unloading in Korea. About the seventh and eighth of July was my
first evening and night of enemy combat.
"The Korean War lasted 37 months and we had 54,000 veterans killed in Korea.
Still have over 8,000 veterans from Korea unaccounted for. The Korean War
Memorial in Washington said there were 33 veterans killed, but some of us
veterans knew better. We did some things and now they have put up a new monument
in Washington that states there were 54,823 American soldiers killed in Korea.
"Thirty-seven months average that out. That is about 1,700 a week. Bloodiest
little war we ever fought. They fired more artillery shells in Korea than they
did in the Second World War.
"The Korean veterans relate to the Second World War veterans. We had the same
equipment, same everything they had. We had just been five years out of World
War II - we weren't ready for a war. We weren't trained for combat, but it don't
take you long to learn.
"We didn't run or cry, we just went over there and did our duties, but 54,000
didn't come back," Goff said. "West Virginia gave more soldiers there were
somewhere around 1,080 veterans died. That was more veterans than any other
nation in the United Nations gave in Korea. Just one state, West Virginia, gave
more than any other nation that served. In Korea, West Virginia rated number one
per capita in veterans to its population. They like to get West Virginia
soldiers."
The Korean War Veteran's Association is fairly new, according to Goff.
"It is called the Forgotten War, and the Korean War Veterans Association is new
and that is our theme," Goff said. "We do programs everywhere we can because we
don't want people to forget the Korean War."
Among those attending the program was Phyllis Adkins, president of the Logan
County School Board, and Wilma Zigmond, Logan County School Superintendent.
"They called from Senator Rockefeller's office and said they were going to hold
these programs throughout the state and wanted to know if we wanted to
participate," Zigmond said. "They wanted us to nominate a school. We felt like
this was a new building and it was a good place. We couldn't have been more
pleased.
"The theater class and the choir, everybody has just pitched in to help the
veterans feel welcome and be heroes today. The veterans shared stories with the
students that were very entertaining and the play, I couldn't watch without
crying.
"It was a play called Love Letters. It was about a man who had gone into the
military and it had his mother, wife and little girl all reading letters from
him or letters they were writing him. His father had been killed in the
military, and in the end, he didn't come home either. It made everyone realize
what these people (veterans) sacrifice for us.
"We need to show respect for veterans on an everyday basis, just don't wait
until November 11th. Every time they hear the National Anthem or every time they
see a flag flying, we ought to remember the sacrifices people have made.
"This school is getting ready to go to the state cheerleading competition and to
the state football playoffs the reason they get to do all these things are
because people like they have honored today have died. I thought it was real
fitting to be here today," Zigmond said.
Terry Elkins, principal of CRHS, felt it was a privilege to have the program at
the school.
"We were fortunate to honor veteran, we were privileged," Elkins said. "We live
in the best country in the world because of the veterans and we were glad we
could them."
About the Take a Veteran to School project - Inspired by the Library of Congress
American Folklife Center Veterans History Project (VHP) launched by the United
States Congress in 2000, participating West Virginia Veterans' firsthand
accounts will be archived in the collections in the American Folklife Center at
the Library of Congress.
Supported by the West Virginia Veterans Council and the West Virginia Veterans
Coalition, the WVCTA encourages all West Virginia residents to take part in
cataloging the histories of West Virginia Veterans.
To learn more about how to participate in the Take a Veteran to School project,
visit http://www.veteransinwv.com.
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