Students learn meaning of Veteran’s Day

Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Sam Swoger III (left) and Ron Borngesser Sr. (right) U.S. Army veterans and members of Austintown American Legion Post 301, visited Hilltop Elementary School on Veterans Day Nov. 11.

Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Sam Swoger III and Ron Borngesser Sr. (pictured) U.S. Army veterans and members of Austintown American Legion Post 301, involved Hilltop Elementary School students in their presentation at the school to celebrate Veterans Day Nov. 11.

Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Hilltop Elementary School principal Cathy Mowry got into the spirit of Veterans Day during the school’s celebration by experiencing the weight of the equipment the soldiers carried in the field. Mowry’s equipment was provided by Sam Swoger III and Ron Borngesser Sr., U.S. Army veterans and members of Austintown American Legion Post 301, who spoke to the students.
By ABBY SLANKER
Students at Hilltop Elementary School got a special visit from two members of the Austintown American Legion Post 301 to celebrate Veterans Day Nov. 11.
Sam Swoger III and Ron Borngesser Sr., U.S. Army veterans, came to the school to speak to the children about their military experiences and to teach them about the sacrifices veterans have made to protect America’s freedoms.
Before Swoger and Borngesser started their presentation, Hilltop Elementary School principal Cathy Mowry asked the students to welcome their guests by singing their school song, “Hilltop Elementary,” led by the fourth-grade students.
Swoger told the children he served in the Army from 1967 to 1969 and was in security, including the military police and intelligence. He served in Germany and achieved the rank of Sergeant.
Borngesser served in the Army from 1962 to 1966 and was in the Signal Corps. He served in Vietnam and Germany and achieved the rank of Sergeant.
Swoger asked Mowry to read to the students an explanation of what a veteran is and what being a veteran means.
“It is totally different now than when we were serving,” Swoger said. “But being a veteran means the same to all of us.”
Swoger and Borngesser brought with them equipment the troops used in the field, pieces of uniforms and helmets. They chose several students from the audience to try the pieces on or hold the equipment, such as the old phones the soldiers used in the field to communicate.
Swoger and Borngesser later called the children up to the front of the room and explained what each piece was and when it was worn or used. And not to leave out Mowry, they dressed her up, too, with equipment the soldiers carried with them in the field.
Both veterans told personal stories of their military service and showed the children awards they have earned. Both Swoger and Borngesser shared that they both had brothers who also served in the military and fought in wars.
The biggest surprise for the children was the MREs, meals ready to eat, that Swoger and Borngesser brought from 40 years ago, including pot roast, which was wrapped up and flat and looked nothing like the pot roast they eat at home. They also showed the children several snacks, such as peanut butter, crackers and cocoa, that the soldiers carried with them.
They also explained the soldiers had no beds in the field and some dug foxholes to sleep in. And the soldiers had to use their helmets as a sink to be able to wash and shave in the field.
“It is a good life, it is a busy life and it is an important life. We were there on your behalf and we are here today to honor the sacrifices of veterans who didn’t come home. We give them the dignity and respect they deserve. I am proud to be a veteran and I am proud to be a member of the American Legion,” Borngesser told the children.
To conclude the program, a Veteran’s Day video was shown to the children. The video was provided by Jeannie Bloomster, a teacher at Hilltop, whose son, Capt. Kevin Weaver, is currently serving in the Army as a leader of his platoon in Afghanistan. He has been deployed for a year.
A friend of Bloomster’s soon-to-be daughter-in-law, Brooke Scholl, put the video together and Bloomster brought it to the school to share with the students and to honor her son, who was pictured in the video.