BRUNSWICK

About 150 sixth-graders in Kim Sampietro’s class at Brunswick Junior High School spent a day recently interviewing local military veterans about their service.

Ostensibly, it was so the kids could gain a different perspective from which to write a narrative and satisfy a component of their language arts curriculum.

But the lesson turned out to be about heroism and personal sacrifice — and they learned it firsthand. Here is some of their work.

— The editor

PLAYING YOUR HAND

Student: Isabel Hilt

Veteran: Joyce Veilleux

“The rule that we have in the Army is never leave anyone behind, no matter what,” said Joyce Veilleux.

Joyce Veilleux was in the Army. She was a nurse because she was interested in medicine. She joined in June 1980 after she got out of college. Joyce was in Desert Storm.

Her parents told her when she was young she could do anything as long as she put her mind to it. “And you can too,” she said. That was a reason she joined the military; she really wanted to go in to the military and she did because she put her mind to it.

One of her memories from her time in the military was when she caught a ride from the Air Force in an airplane. They were playing poker. She had a great hand. She was about to play the hand when they lost an engine. They were lucky enough to land safely, but she never got to play her winning hand!

Joyce Veilleux was in the Army for 24 years. One thing Joyce taught me was that I can do anything as long as I put my mind to it and persevere. “Everyday’s a story in the military with all the deaths, the sadness and happiness,” she said.

LIVE TRAINING

Student: Aaron Remulla

Veteran: Tyler Beck

On Veterans Day, we are grateful for people such as Tyler Beck, who started serving our country on July 31, 2006 and is still serving today.

Leaving his home in Maine, Mr. Beck went to boot camp at Fort Jackson, Ga. When he finished, he was sent back to Maine to join the Maine National Guard.

One night, when everyone was in their tent, Sgt. Beck and his friend were getting ready for bed. They heard an explosion. They grabbed their guns and ran outside. Suddenly, they were on the ground shooting. Just then the commander walked out from the tent where he was watching, and told them it was just a drill. He told them everything they had done was right.

Tyler and his friend walked back in and went back to bed with their hearts racing but confident about how they had handled themselves.

Sgt. Beck’s experiences in the Army helped him to learn self discipline and how to be successful. Learning these two things have made him a better person and improved his life.

SUB HUNTER

Student: Katherine Robinson

Veteran: Marty Diller

Marty Diller served in the U.S. Navy for 10 years, protecting our country from the Soviet Union. Mr. Diller flew missions on which he tracked Soviet submarines. This job was difficult because the Soviets were very intelligent and their subs were difficult to detect.

While he flew all over the world, some of his most memorable experiences occurred when Mr. Diller spent three years in Antarctica, flying scientists who were researching the atomic bomb and penguins.

“It was very scary to land a plane in Antarctica,” said Mr. Diller, “because you never knew if the snow could hold the plane.”

Once, when he was landing a plane, it became stuck in the deep snow. When he tried to get the plane airborne again, the plane instead sank deeper in the snow. This situation was very dangerous because the snow was two miles deep. If the plane did not get off the ground soon, the propellers and wings would become buried in the deep snow due to the freezing temperatures. They had to keep the engines running, which meant that they might run out of gas. The crew didn’t have any supplies to build a fire or make shelter. It was a life-or-death situation.

The plane slowly sank into the snow. The snow seemed to pull the plane under. Finally, on the 13th try, they escaped the snow and the plane became airborne. With very little gas left in the plane, the crew made it back to McMurdo Station.

After he left Antarctica, Marty Diller went back to his wife and two children at home.

He learned a lot from his experiences in the Navy. He learned the importance of responsibility and sense of duty. As the member of a team, if you are not there for the mission, no one can take your place.

There are no substitutes in the Navy. They expect you to be on the job 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Everyone on the team matters. These are lessons we all have to learn. When people are depending on you, you have to be there, always.

“WHY ALL THE BODIES?”

Student: Jack Lowell

Veteran: Jon Lowell

“Quick get him in the chopper!” said one of his friends. Shocked, he realized that it was the same boy who he dropped into the combat zone.

On this Veterans Day, we are grateful for people like Master Sergeant Jon Lowell who served in the United States Air Force during Desert Storm. His father also served in the Air Force.

Leaving his family was very hard, but he glistened with happiness when they could visit him in certain places. His job was to ship objects of high value to military protected places.

There were too many bodies, and he had to get them.

While in the Air Force, Jon Lowell was in the gruesome battle of Desert Storm. Along with delivering life-saving food through air drops, he also was in charge of transporting fallen American soldiers.

“The worst part was when we had ship the remains of fallen Americans,” he said. When the battle was over, he was relieved he would never have to see anyone die or be hurt for a long time.

Lowell was also involved in the Operation Just Cause invasion of Panama. He helped airdrop dozens brave troops into combat zones, then bring them out almost completely dead.

“I hated seeing young men get slaughtered or badly wounded,” he said.

Lowell’s experience in the service was life-changing; he learned that you always want to avoid war, and that you never want to take a person’s life.

“Don’t go into the service looking for action, or to go and fight. Go in looking to help people, and always give it 110 percent,” is Jon Lowell’s advice to people wanting to go into the service.

THEBLADEMADEOFWHALE

Student: Ben Israel

Veteran: John Shlaack

“Guys come and look at this!” exclaimed John Schlaack on Adak Island while searching for ancient artifacts.

Coming from a small town in Michigan named Owosso, he had three cousins in the military: two in the Air Force and the other in the Navy.

Serving from 1955 to 1975 as a naval air controller, he served briefly in the Vietnam War and mostly in the Cold War. Mr. Schlack moved from place to place, eventually ending up in Brunswick.

Schlaack was stationed on Adak Island off the coast of Alaska. He and his crew were sent on a mission to find artifacts on the island. As he and his crew ran deeper and deeper on the island, they finally found a dark cave full of bats.

After searching for hours they finally came across something. “Guys, come and look at this!” John exclaimed. They came upon a old wooden chest and when they opened it, Mr. Schlaack picked up a blade completely made out of whale bone.

Where Mr. Schlaack was stationed he had a Genus Oceanus radio. One night he had guests over who wanted something everybody could listen to, so he went upstairs to get his radio. He brought the radio down and he turned the knob on the buff body. As it turned on, he heard one Navy ship talking to another Navy ship saying they were being fired at by an enemy ship. Later he realized that was the trigger of the Vietnam War.

Before retirement, Mr. Schlaack became a chief naval officer at the base in Brunswick.

Some people came up to him and asked, “Were you the chief at the naval air station?” He would reply “Yes.” They would say “Thank you, you saved my life.”

John Schlaack learned “you have to give everybody respect, even if they don’t deserve what they are receiving, because then they will respect you.”

From John Schlaack’s experiences, one can learn that being brave can lead to good outcomes.

OVER THE EDGE

Student: Grace Casey

Veteran: Fred Schwab

Every step on the flight deck held the possibility of death.

Electric cables, landing and taking off of planes, the chance of being sucked into an engine with propeller blades whipping about, or being blown overboard to a bone crushing fall of eighty feet, were all likely scenarios.

Lieutenant Commander Fred Schwab and his maintenance crew were aware of all these hazards on the flight deck of the first Super Aircraft Carrier the Nimbus during the awful Vietnam War. Schwab joined the the Navy in 1960 at the raw age of 17 after saying, “I looked down the road and saw nothing.”

Schwab was stationed in Brunswick; Pensacola, Fla.; and Virginia during his courageous time in the military, a total of 30 years.

One evening after a long day off tough work, Schwab became slightly careless and came within a very close brush with death. The day was drawing to a close as Schwab was working next to a plane that was about to take off.

As Schwab finished his work, he stood up and walked behind the plane. The pilot, who was unable to see Schwab, revved the engine to full power.

As the plane shot forward, Schwab was caught in the powerful rush of air and blown down the landing pad. He went flying head over heels down the runway landing hard on his gloved hand and then his brown leather wallet, which he had put in his back pocket earlier that day.

Nobody was able to help Schwab as he went tumbling down the runway; if they had they would have been pulled along with him.

Fear pounded through Schwab as he whistled through the air, awaiting the crushing welcome he knew the water would give him. Thankfully, for Schwab, he was thrown over the back of the aircraft carrier and into a thick wire mesh net. As the net caught him and the fear stopped flooding like blood through him, he climbed out of the net and on deck. Schwab hurried away from the edge, a much wiser man.

Schwab retired from the Navy in 1990 after 30 years of service.

During his time in the military, he had 11 promotions, ending as a lieutenant commander; made lifelong friends and had many one-of-a-kind experiences.

“The war and my time in the military taught me discipline, integrity, responsibility and most of all how to be professional. If I could serve with the same people again, boy I sure would.”

Life is a precious gift, it is delicate and gentle, so always be careful with it and try to make the most of your time.

INTO THE SEA

Student: Chappy Hall

Veteran: Mike Silevinac

Vaa-vvvaaaa pa pa. The engine sputtered, kicked in again, then died.

Michael A. Silevinac U.S. Navy helicopter pilot and mechanic, was out on a routine flight one day when the engine died. He served 22 years, from 1970 to 1992 and hunted for Russian subs during the Cold war in the Atlantic at the rank of lieutenant commander. In all his experiences, there was one day he found himself in a fight for his life.

Splash. Briny water washed over the windows of the helicopter as the shockwave stunned the crew. Ten minutes earlier, Silevinac and his crew prepared for take off. It was a clear day, a light wind blowing. Suddenly the engine went to a low grumble, restarted, then with a put-put rattle, it went out, and they were dead in the sky. Silevinac remembered something he learned — “think before you do” — which he whispered to himself.

While the helicopter plummeted towards the sea, called in a mayday to their home frigate, a type of warship.

Then, impact! Commander Silevinac bit his lip, almost biting it right off. The foul tasting blood swamped his mouth and down his front. He kicked out the escape door while the rest of the crew grabbed the lifeboats. Everyone jumped into them. They had no choice but to wait as the waves sloshed over the sides of the lifeboats. They waited for half an hour, but the frigate finally arrived. A big welcome home awaited them.

Commander Silevinac’s time in the service changed his life. After leaving the service, he joined his community and helped with a lot of community activities. He learned that you need to work together like a well oiled machine. The biggest thing he learned: It doesn’t matter if you’re from Maine, or Virginia, even Scotland, we all have things in common.

ATTACK OF THE RUSSIANS

Student: Will Shaughnessy

Veteran: Tom Fritshi

“Being in the Navy teaches you your whole way of life, and makes you who you are.”

These words were spoken by none other than Tom Fritshi, a veteran who served 26years in the Navy and did a good job, too. When Tom was 19, most of his friends were off fighting in Vietnam, where some were getting severely wounded and others were getting killed At this time Tom felt very guilty sitting at home while his friends were out fighting for their lives, and thought he needed to have a part in the service. Since the Vietnam War was over, he decided to join the Navy, where he would go on to serve as a patrol specialist in the Cold War.

Mr. Fritshi had many memories from the Navy, but one memory stood out above all others: the time he was rammed by a giant Russian carrier ship.

Mr. Fritshi and his Navy friends were patrolling near Russian territory. He was enjoying cruising along in his boat with the salty water spraying his face, comrades by his side, but then all of a sudden they spotted a giant Russian ship speeding at a very fast pace toward them. They could see this carrier ship belonged to the gruesome Russians as soon as they saw the crew. They looked very menacing with their tall hats and their long fur coats billowing in the wind, and they did not look happy at all. They were furious that Mr. Fritshi and the other American crew members had come into their territory, despite them being far from it. The Russians were so infuriated they rammed the cruiser with their enormous boat, pushing it away and leaving a giant, nasty looking dent in the side of it.

The crew was lucky enough to survive this attack from the Russians and there were no injuries. The only damage done was to the side of the boat and the Russians’ reputation with everyone who witnessed this.

It’s a shame this had to happen, but it wasn’t all just bad times for Tom.

He said one of his favorite parts of the Navy was getting to travel the world, learn new languages and cultures, and make tons of new friends. So if you think on the positive side, at least he got to go to Russia.

In conclusion, Tom Fritshi was great veteran who served well in the Navy and says, “Be true to your word, and treat others as you would want to be treated.”

UNDER THE ICE

Student: Izzy Headley

Veteran: Roger Dumont

“I wish I never remembered war,” was Mr. Dumont’s answer when asked if he could go back in time and change one thing. He served in the Navy for 32 years, starting in 1966.

Mr. Dumont served in the Vietnam War for two years, and in the Navy’s submarine force during the Cold War, where his job was to follow Russian subs.

They were watching him run out of oxygen, helpless under the ice, left to die.

Mr. Dumont and the other men on the sub could hear Russian voices on their radios coming from the line placed at the bottom of the ocean to monitor Russian subs. They soon discovered Russians were tapping into the line. When they went to inspect the line, they came across a long, matte black Russian submarine with two divers in the water next to the line staring at them. The Russian sub fled in a hurry, cutting off the diver’s air supply and leaving them to die under the ice. They could do nothing but watch them die. Mr. Dumont sat motionless in the submarine feeling overcome with disgust.

If there’s one thing Mr. Dumont made clear, it’s that war is useless or stupid. Just think, people will go as far as killing each other because of a conflict that could be resolved by just accepting something that they want in their country, or something they could handle on their own. Being in the United States Navy taught Mr. Dumont three things: honor, courage and commitment. From his experiences, one could learn to be glad about the things you have.

TEDDY BEARS IN IRAQ

Student: Gabri Sparks

Veteran: Davielle Rodgers

This young girl from Brunswick was thrust into a place away from her home and family. Davielle Rodgers enlisted in 2005 to the present day.

She was first approached by the Air Force for her photography. Making a decision such as this would be hard without the of her support family. But Davi, as everyone calls her, was wonderfully supported by her daughter and mother.

After the six-month boot camp, she was and still is stationed in Chicopee, Mass. She was fulltime for nine years and has now been a reservist for four years. After pursuing photography, Miss Rodgers was offered a security force position and took it.

Miss Rodgers has been through much in her service, but she shared the most precious moment so far.

It had been a week and a half since Miss Rodgers had presented her idea for the Rising Six. She waited patiently as her proposal made its way up the ranks.

The Rising Six is an organization of enlisted members who help people who had lost everything. She would call back to her hometown and ask for school supplies and anything else children might need but parents couldn’t get.

Miss Rodgers is a teddy bear lover, so she asked all the stores in her town to donate teddy bears and send them to give to the kids

A huge box arrived and Miss Rodgers was thrilled.

When she finally had permission to leave the base, she and her commanding officer loaded up a small convoy and headed out into the area that had been pre-approved.

When she arrived, she was dripping with sweat from the Iraqi sun. Women were not allowed to go to combat areas at night.

When they finally reached her destination, Miss Rodgers meet a woman. This woman was in a full robe and turban that covered her face. She had eight children: three of them were hers; the rest orphaned she was taking care of.

Miss Rodgers asked the woman with the help of an interpreter if she could give a bear to each of her children. Once the children had their bears, they would not let them go.

The woman thanked her and gave her a hug.

When they were back on the convoy, the interpreter looked at her and said “Do you know what she just did?’’

“No,” was all that she replied.

“She just risked her life to give you a hug,’’ he answered.

“WHAT?’’ she screeched.

“She is not allowed to touch another woman,’’ he explained.

“She could have been stoned to death if a male was there to see that.’’

The rest of the ride home, she was silent thinking of the woman that risked her life to give her a hug.

When Miss Rodgers got home she hugged her daughter and mother, but she would never forget that woman and what she gave her.

She gave Miss Rodgers the power to appreciate the simple things more: the fact that she could hug or touch anyone she wanted. She can show her face and be outspoken because she lived and protected a country that allowed her to be unique.

After that, when people said she couldn’t do something because she was a woman, she was proud to be able to try it anyway because she had the right to.

“I never take what they say to heart until I prove to myself that I can’t,” she said.

Miss Rodgers went on two more tours and now is taking a three-year break before going on another deployment.

She has learned many things in her time of service so far and is appreciative for what she has learned.

Thank you for supporting our veterans by reading and experiencing this precious story.