Students from the Helen S. Dunn School in Greenbush are getting a very real lesson in what it means to serve our country.
They carried 13 Summit Project stones into the Cole Museum in Bangor, each engraved with the name of a fallen hero.
The fallen are from all over Maine and were killed in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The hope is that students will understand that these were real people-who made a very real sacrifice.
“I knew he was a lieutenant commander. His age was 33 when he died. He died in 2002,” said 7th grader Jacob Nickerson.
“It doesn’t matter if they’re younger or older or if they’re in a different branch. It just matters that they’ve died and we need to honor them and what they’ve done for our country,” said 7th grader Kara Morlock.
Family members of those who died were also in attendance-they say having kids carry their loved ones’ stones will help keep their memory alive for years to come.
“It’s awesome, you know. Freedom isn’t free, and we’ve got to teach our younger generation what this is all about. Because they’re going to be the ones that are going to lead us,” said James Trout, whose grandson Dustin Harris was killed in action.
“Anybody who carries one of these stones, they’re helping carry a weight for the family. Their lives will be changed, they’ll remember this and they’ll look at the veterans around them and think of the price of the freedom that they enjoy,” said Jeff Hutchins, whose son Andrew was killed in action.
If you’d like to come view the stones, they’ll be on display at the Cole Museum until May 23rd.
—-
The fallen soldiers honored Friday were:
Sgt. Kevin Balduf of Richmond
Capt. John Brainard III of Newport
Lt. Cmdr. Robert Clukey of Orono
Staff Sgt. Dale Kelly of Richmond
Maj. Samuel Leigh of Belgrade
Master Sgt. Ryan Love of Frankfort
Sgt. Brett Pelotte of Waterville
Staff Sgt. Brandon Silk of Orono
Spc. Wade Slack of Waterville
Pvt. Dustin Small of Palmyra
Lt. Jerry Smith of Greenville
Staff Sgt. David Veverka of Orono
Spc. Christopher Wilson of Bangor
WATCH THE VIDEO HERE.