John Kelly, Ph. D.

As I watched, a team of five middle-school boys dressed in authentic looking U.S. Marine uniforms rushed in with several World War II props and some South Pacific backdrops draped over improvised PVC pipe stands.  The rules for the contest require that the competitors set up within five minutes, perform for 10 minutes, answer questions from judges, and disassemble in five minutes thereafter.

What I saw in the next 10 minutes astounded me.  The students are John Noll, Derek Valadez, Grant Streeter, Bret Burns, and Tyler Langston. They re-enacted Marine Corps training and a couple of key moments from the Battle of Iwo Jima. They ended with a picture perfect re-creation of the famous Iwo Jima photo depicting the raising of the flag (now displayed as a full fledged monument to the Marines in Washington, D.C.).

Mr. Degner acted as judge and asked them tough spontaneous questions thereafter.  He asked them about their research, about who they had interviewed, about the meaning of the battle and about the perspective of men who had fought there. 

These boys had really done their homework. Their hard study was self-evident. You may remember the book “Flags of our Fathers.” Our students had actually interviewed Tom Bradley, the son of John Bradley who is one of the surviving flag raisers.  They had also interviewed several other World War II Marines including the grandfather (Lloyd Whitworth) of one of the boys (John Noll).  Mr. Bill Sultenfuss, another BMSN teacher and Marine, lent them uniforms, books, videos and advice for their studies. Obviously, the boys had spent many hours learning their subject matter well. 

As I sat and watched, all of this became a little personal for me.  My own father was (and is) a United States Marine who fought in the battle of Okinawa and was injured by shrapnel in that battle.As these young middle-school boys spoke, they described the hesitancy of Marine veterans to talk about their experiences in battle. They told us that the interviewed Marines felt the real heroes were their buddies who died on that island. 

As I listened to these extraordinary boys, tears welled in my eyes.  I am somewhat reserved and usually unemotional, at least in public. But these boys were describing my father as no one else has done. My dad hardly spoke about his heroic service in the Marines and showed us his medals only after we badgered him to do so. As an 80-year-old man, his voice breaks and his eyes moisten when he talks about his “buddies” left behind.  He spoke of taking a particular hill with over 100 men – and coming back down with only 11 left. He feels that the finest men he ever knew lay lifeless on that island. 

I have never been prouder of Boerne ISD than when I heard these Boerne boys accurately describe the heroics of men like my father in World War II.  Surely they were and are the greatest generation. With what these young boys showed me and with who they honored, there is hope for another such generation to arise

As a footnote to all of this, the Boerne Middle School boys went on to get first place in regional competition. They were also awarded the Boyd Harrison Memorial Award as the best project in the entire Regional History Fair (out of hundreds of participants).  Now they advance to state on April 27 in Austin. 

My hat’s off to these dedicated students and to Bryan Degner for his latest, and among his most miraculous achievements as a teacher. I wish the whole nation could see what I saw.