Local Veterans Bring Living History to Montgomery Upper Middle School
Nicholas Mistretta
MONTGOMERY, NJ — Students at Montgomery Upper Middle School received a firsthand lesson in service and sacrifice when members of the Montgomery Veterans Memorial Committee visited the school to share their personal experiences in the U.S. military.
The program brought students face-to-face with local veterans whose service spanned different branches, generations and conflicts.
Taking part were Veterans Memorial Committee Chair Dimitra Bairaktaras, a U.S. Army veteran, Operation Iraqi Freedom; Tom Cellilli, who served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War; Tim Fallon, who served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 2009 to 2013 and deployed to Afghanistan; and Anthony Palmieri, a U.S. Army veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Together, the veterans spoke with students about their time in uniform, offering perspectives that went beyond what can be found in a textbook. Their stories gave students an opportunity to better understand the responsibilities, challenges and sacrifices associated with military service, as well as the lasting impact those experiences can have on those who serve.
The visit also provided students with a chance to connect larger moments in American history with members of their own community who experienced military service firsthand.
Each veteran brought a different perspective to the conversation, reflecting not only different eras of military service but also the common themes of teamwork, commitment, responsibility and service to others.
As part of the program, students were also given a special assignment, or “mission”: write a letter of gratitude to a veteran.
The letters or videos will be reviewed by members of the Montgomery Veterans Memorial Committee, with several selected to be read aloud during Montgomery’s annual Veterans Day ceremony. The assignment gives students an opportunity to reflect on what they heard from the veterans and put into their own words what service and sacrifice mean to them.
For the Montgomery Veterans Memorial Committee, visits such as this are an important part of keeping veterans’ stories alive while creating a connection between generations. Adding another historical dimension to the program, Candy Willis spent many hours researching Montgomery residents who served during the Revolutionary War. As part of the Veterans Day ceremony, Willis will read the names of those local veterans, while several selected students will help bring their stories to life by reading brief biographies of some of the men who served. The tribute is intended to connect Montgomery’s present-day veterans with the community’s much earlier military history and give students a deeper appreciation for the generations of local residents who answered the call to serve.
The committee has worked with Montgomery schools on programs designed to help students develop a greater understanding of the men and women who have served in the Armed Forces and the meaning behind community observances honoring veterans.
By hearing directly from Cellilli, Fallon, Palmieri and Bairaktaras — and then responding through their own letters — UMS students were able to put faces and personal stories to the history they study, turning a classroom lesson into a meaningful exchange between generations.
The visit continued a longstanding partnership between Montgomery’s schools and its veterans community, helping ensure that the experiences of those who served are not only remembered, but shared with the generations that follow.
Photo Credit: Nicholas Mistretta/headlinenewsmontgomery.com