Palmer Trinity School

A Veteran Salute By Blanca Morales, Marketing and Communications Manager (with contributions by Brittney Mills '22) Palmer Trinity School students Brittney Mills '22 and Ismael Alvarez '22 arrived at The Palace Gardens— an assisted living community in Homestead—armed with a video camera. Their mission? To record the stories of veteran soldiers to share with the PTS community. During their time there, Brittney and Ismael listened as each veteran gave their personal account of war; reliving how they were recruited, when they volunteered, the friendships they made in their respective branches and the honor and pride they felt serving their country. Witnessing the patriotism of each veteran was incredibly meaningful for both students. "Honoring and respecting veterans and the elderly is some of the most precious and necessary work that needs to be done," said Brittney. "A special gem that all of their stories seemed to have in common was their feelings of pride about their service. They expressed that their service was a very impactful, memorable part of their life." In light of COVID-19, the students were not allowed to be in the same room as the three residents they spoke with, who were 83, 91 and 94 years old. Behind glass doors, the students met John Riesz (U.S. Army), James Mason (U.S. Air Force), and James L. Davis, Sr. (U.S. Marine Corp), who wore headsets and microphones to communicate with their visitors. With these filmed interviews, Brittney and Ismael produced a video for our PTS Veteran's Day convocation. Ismael took the lead on this, motivated by his excitement to preserve a part of history and share the gentlemen's interesting accounts with his fellow students. John volunteered for the draft and began his service in 1958. He attended boot camp and went on to be part of the president's Honor Guard in D.C. for 15 months. James Mason was 18 when he went into service in 1955, during the Vietnam War. "I enjoyed being in the Air Force," he told the students. "No regrets. None." Just a couple of months shy of earning his high school diploma, James Davis enlisted with the U.S. Marines. All his friends were going, so his mother signed for him and gave him the green light to fight for his country. He served for 40 years, was wounded during World War II and feels privileged to have lived a long life ever since. (As he proudly said at the start of their interview, "I'm going to live until I'm 103!") Of course, Brittney and Ismael couldn't leave the interview without asking these respected veterans for some sage wisdom for their generation. Speaking directly to our students, James Davis got straight to the point: " Get a good education. That's my best advice. You guys are the future leaders of the country. I did my share, now it's going to be up to you." We'll salute to that. palmertrinity.org 8 BIRD'S EYE VIEW

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