History Week

Sorry it's taken so long to update everyone on last week's activities. I'm on Spring Break and it's been a busy week of doing nothing!

We had visitors to our club last week and unfortunately I forgot to get any pictures of our first guest. Luckily he wants to see how Memoir '44 works so we'll have him back another time and I can get a picture then.

On Tuesday, March 17th, we were visited by Tom Myers. Tom (as he prefered to be called) is a veteran of World War II and was a reserve for the 5th Armored when they hit the Siegfried line. Later he was transferred to the 28th Infantry Division and fought in Hurtgen Forest. When he was finally moved out of that dark forest, he helped defend the small town of Weiler as part of I Company, 3rd Battalion, 110th Regiment 28th US Infantry Division. On December 16, 1944 the Germans started the battle that became known as the Battle of the Bulge and attacked Weiler. Tom and his unit successfully defended the town until they were surrounded and then pulled back to rejoin their battalion HQ. Most of the men didn't make it and Tom was captured on December 17, 1944.

Tom shared his amazing story with the students and then they had a chance for some very interesting questions. Tom was very humble as he showed them his medals (including a Bronze Star) and when he was asked what he got the medals for, simply said, "I did my job."

On Thursday, March 19th, Peter Hawkins came to talk with the club. Because it was just before Spring Break, many of the students couldn't be there but Mr. Hawkins (as he wanted us to call him) provided some good information for the students that were there. Mr. Hawkins was in the military starting in 1967 and had family from Germany who were in World War II. He studied the war and received a Masters in Military History with a focus on World War II from American Military University.

Mr. Hawkins helped put the War in context for the students and answered many of their questions. He also brought some of his World War II collections including several GI Joe collectables, a dummy pineapple grenade, and some .50 caliber bullets. This is a picture of Peter Hawkins with the students who were able to come learn from him.

Thank you to both guests who came to spend time with my students! They will never forget it and I believe they now have a better understanding of World War II history because of your visits. Thank you.