History comes to life

Deirdre Newman

Harbor View Elementary School fifth-graders received a personal lesson

in the high cost of freedom and the courage needed to defend it when they

visited the Orange County Walk of Honor on Thursday.

The Walk, at the Santa Ana Civic Center, honors the eight Orange

County heroes who have earned the highest military award -- the

Congressional Medal of Honor.

Fifteen Orange County schools attended the event, with the Corona del

Mar school the lone Newport-Mesa Unified School District representative.

While the fifth-graders study U.S. history throughout the year,

Thursday’s trip enabled them to go beyond the textbooks and learn from

the veterans themselves.

“It’s so meaningful for the kids to know what has gone on before them,

that people have given their lives for our country,” teacher Penny Norton

said.

When the students arrived at the Walk, they were greeted by former

Navy pilot Jack Smith, who emphasized the values the armed forces fight

to uphold.

“Just the idea that we can stand and talk to each other freely -- we

owe that to the men and women in the armed services,” Smith said.

Then Lewis Nockold, a World War II veteran who fought at Pearl Harbor,

gave a tour of the eight memorial plaques. As the students huddled around

the monuments, Nockold explained the acts of courage that resulted in the

men’s decoration.

Among those actions was the selfless act of John Baca, who put a

helmet on top of a grenade that threatened his platoon in Vietnam, then

laid on top of the helmet and absorbed the full shock of the explosion,

breaking almost every bone in his body.

Many of the students said they were deeply impressed by the examples

of bravery.

“It’s really nice that people risked their lives for our country,”

said Leslee Kaczmarek. “ They’re very brave and they stood up to say they

were proud to be an American.”

After viewing the monuments, the students viewed a military jeep, an

M-1 Grand semiautomatic rifle and a Browning 50-caliber machine gun used

on airplane bombers to shoot down enemy fighters. For many students, it

was the first time seeing a gun up close.

“I think it’s scary,” Sophie Molinari said.

The event is sponsored by the Orange County Freedom Committee, which

pays $12,000 for all the school buses. Jerry Prell, event chairman, said

the Walk takes on special significance this year because of the terrorist

attacks on Sept. 11.

“We understand that kids may be frightened, so we hope this helps show

that the United States is big and strong and has weathered major storms

in the past,” Prell said.

* Deirdre Newman covers education. She may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at o7 deirdre.newman@latimes.comf7 .