How It All Started

In May of 1996 the father of two of my students, John-Micheal Hendrix, completed his book entitled, To Have and To Hold. His book is about how he and his wife, Patti, met while both serving in Viet Nam 1968-1971. John was a highly decorated scout pilot who served three tours. Patti was a nurse who served two tours. John's book tells about how they met, fell in love, and married in the midst of this tragic war. It is not just a love story but a story that brings to light many different men that John served with including other Banshee scout pilots and their gunners. John's book gave us a glimpse of the war we had not seen before.

Soon after John's book was published I read it to my students who immediately latched on to the many characters in it. John and Patti both came in on several occasions to answer the children's many questions and expand on the many stories. In the fall many of my returning students again asked for me to read John's book. However, this time the book took upon a new life for my students. As I read this book and watched my students' expressions I knew this book was touching them each in a unique way...as it was for me too. At the time I had no idea where this would soon take us.

The children would also go home and talk with their parents and families about the war and bring their thoughts and comments back for classroom discussions. They were learning so much about the war...especially the human side of it. John, through his special writing ability, introduced the children to many different men such as Bill (John's gunner), Bob (Banshee 15) Banshee 14, Mike, and Steve (scout pilots) and of course Angel 7. The kids were especially intrigued with Bill and "Weird Bob". On Veteran's Day the kids made beautiful cards, pictures, and letters for John, Patti, and the other men who they grew to know in the book.

The one character that seemed to especially intrigue the kids was "Weird Bob". After reading the book no one could forget Bob. Bob too is a highly decorated scout pilot. With much persistence by the children John had tried to find Bob after 27 years since he last saw him in Viet Nam, but just couldn't locate him. In late May of this year, when John was looking through some of his old Viet Nam papers he discovered Bob's parents' phone number and decided to try it out. Bob's father still lived at the same number and was able to give John the information he needed to locate Bob Donnelly in Denver, Colorado.

Within a few days I was speaking with Bob over the phone and told him how much the kids would enjoy talking directly with him too. We arranged a conference call from the principal's office and twelve of my students had the honor of asking Bob the many questions they had always wanted to ask him. Bob enjoyed speaking with the kids and immediately started communicating with the kids through email and the postal service. The kids made more cards for him including 27 Veteran's Day cards, one for each year (1970-1996) that Bob did not receive the honor he so deserved.

The last two weeks of school were so special with all of us building a new friendship. Many of the kids, as well as myself continued through the summer to communicate with Bob. What continued to bother the students was when Bob spoke of the terrible reception that awaited him in 1970 when he arrived back in the states....being spat upon, cruel and vulgar comments, eggs being thrown at him. Certainly not the hero's welcome he thought he would find.

Earlier this summer I had lunch with several of my students. We talked of Bob and how special it would be to bring him to Washington to spend Veteran's Day 1997 with all of us. To give him the proper welcome home...and that it wasn't too late to make that terrible wrong right. I told them that I didn't know if he would be willing to do such a thing, but that it certainly wouldn't hurt to ask. So we did. And soon I received a call from Bob saying that he "wouldn't miss it for the world!". The rest shall we say is history!

What started as a simple invitation by innocent children to one man has grown to be an invitation to a larger community of men and women who served in Viet Nam. This will culminate with the Veterans Day parade in downtown Granite Falls tomorrow morning.

I am so proud of these kids. They have learned so much about the world and human relationships through John's book, and through befriending Bob and Bill. I know too that they have touched these veterans' lives in a special way and many others in a way they may never fully understand.

As a teacher I am in a unique position to help guide my students. But in this case my students have taken a story written about love, and shared compassion and love with others they may never meet.