This Ghana Session began with a three way video conference. The three way conference began with Ghana, the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School, and Dubai. Students in Ghana gave Dubai and the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School students a presentation based on Ghana’s culture, food, politics, and way of life. After their presentation, the session turned over to Mr. Wronko at the Dr. Martin Luther Jr. Middle School for a Veterans Day Celebration. At the middle school, three veteran soldiers attended this session and they were, Wilbur V. Martin, Vietnam veteran, Randy Lynd, Green Beret who served in Desert Storm, the War in Afghanistan and the War in Iraq, and Walter Drummond Senior, during the Vietnam War his unit was stationed in Korea.
The Veterans Day Celebration began with Mrs. Elgart’s chorus singing the National Anthem, You’re A Grand Old Flag, and America The Beautiful. From there Wilbur V. Martin spoke to the students in Mr. Wronko’s class and the students in Ghana. He spoke about his paratrooping experience. For instance, Mr. Martin told the students how during his first jump out of a plane he got caught in an air pocket which kept him in the air for a long period of time while the rest of his men made it to the ground. The students were amazed about his bravery of handling a dangerous situation. He also spoke about his experience being in the military and how he was proud to have served for his country.
After Wilbur Martin, Green Beret Randy Lynd shared his experiences with his career in the military. He talked about one of his first jobs with the military. It was a Tuesday morning around 6:15 a.m. and he had to go carry out his mission. He explained that what keeps you going when performing your mission was survival. In addition, Mr. Lynd told the students about paratrooping out of a plane which led to one of his fellow soldiers getting into a life threatening situation. His fellow soldier landed into deep water. The soldier’s parachute was filling up with water very quickly which was in a matter of seconds ready to pull him under. Mr. Lynd stated that once he got on the ground, he took off his parachute and all of his equipment and jumped in the water to hold his comrade above water. Then all the men of his unit formed a chain to pull him and the soldier he was rescuing out of the water. The students were amazed by this experience Mr. Lynd had. Furthermore, Randy Lynd also shared with the students the goal of the VFW which was to help fellow soldiers returning from war get back to the world by pairing them up with veterans who had similar experiences.
Finally, Walter Drummond Senior spoke to the students in Ghana and in Mr. Wronko’s class. Mr. Drummond told the students that his unit during the Vietnam War went to Korea. While he was in Korea, he learned a lot about the country through a person by the name of Mr. Lee who was a Korean Soldier. Mr. Lee showed Mr. Drummond around Korea. Mr. Drumond informed the students that he learned a lot about Korean culture and way of life. In addition, Walter Drummond shared with the students that he had two black belts and was very disciplined with his studies in martial arts.
All students were very grateful that the veterans attended this session and hope to see them again.
