Natasha Singh & Lauren Cullen
Staff Writer & Editor-in-Chief
Yesterday, November 10th, Westford Academy students had the unique opportunity to sit in on a panel of veterans from various wars throughout our country’s history . History teacher Stephen Scully arranged the event for the third year in a row. This year, six veterans from came to share their experiences with students and staff.
At the age of 18, Joseph McBreen had been drafted as a soldier for the Army in 1943. During his time in the Army, he engineered traps created by enemies consisting of mines and booby-traps. After the war he served as a national guard for ten years, and later switched to the Army Reserve to become a technician. Joseph remained in the Army Reserve until 1985, and at the age of 60 he retired as a Chief Warrant Officer.
A native of Bolton, Massachusetts, and the only female present yesterday, was First Lieutenant Ruea Baum. She worked a few years in the medical field before joining the Army Nurse Corps. Throughout her service, she faced challenging tasks like converting barns into hospitals which needed to treat up to 500 patients.. With no electricity, only one light bulb per room, and as she explains “not good working conditions”, Baum took care of her patients along with her colleagues, all for her country.
In her final statements, Baum explained all her patients were the same and received the same common illnesses as the regular human not in combat. Her main concept seemed to be to remind students that all humans are the same.
First Lieutenant Bruce Dalwin, a veteran of the Vietnam war was also among the veterans on the panel. At the time of the Vietnam war, he had been attending Pennsylvania State University, but thought enlisting himself seemed like a better choice.
Although the American public had shown disapproval of involvement in Vietnam, Dalwin said he never once regretted his involvement in the war. Serving in Vietnam ended up being a good decision on his part because while stationed there, he met his future wife. 44 years later, Dalwin said the two are still happily married with three grown children.
Brother of History teacher Stephen Scully, Sergeant Thomas Scully worked as a Military Police Officer during Operation Desert Storm. His position required him to set up travel gates for the troops and to guide them into combat. Another one of his jobs was to transport prisoners and process them from Kuwait. Several aspects of Scully’s job were dangerous, and he offered some eye-opening stories to students.
Captain Jason Chaput, husband of Math teacher Elisabeth Chaput, is a Marine that participated in Operation Iraqi Freedom. After graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy in 2001, Chaput was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps. He took part in the ground invasion of Iraq. Overall, Chaput emphasized the appreciation that should be given to the mundane daily events that most people take for granted.
“The privileges that you forgo when you enter the military are things you give up in order to serve the country and protect American ways of life,” said Chaput.
Detective Jason Agraz strikes as a familiar face around WA, but he is also known as Corporal Agraz to the U.S. Marine Corps. Agraz knew he wanted to be a Marine and immediately signed up after graduating from WA himself. He ended up in Asia working with skill teams of different American units. During his final statements, he reminded students to honor the veterans and also show respect to those who did not return.
Overall, the panel was a success. The stories and advice from the veterans were things that surely no student who attended will forget this Veteran’s Day.
