Local vets visit Oak Park schools

SERVICE TO COUNTRY—Oak Park Unified School District assistent superintendent and Vietnam veteran Cliff Moore, second from left, welcomes peacetime veteran Glen Wilcox and World War II veterans Marty Horan, Ed Goldfarb and Joseph Dunlap before an assembly. In honor of Veterans Day, veterans will be speaking to students in Oak Park schools throughout November. Oak Park students have learned firsthand what it means to fight for one's country.

In honor of the recent Veterans Day, soldiers who fought in every U.S. war since World War II attended assemblies and spoke to students of all ages.

There were nine presentations throughout the school district.

At Oak View High School, four World War II veterans in their 80s and one peacetime veteran described their military experiences. Some brought their uniforms.

"I hope none of you have to go to war," said Joseph Dunlap, who served in the Navy during World War II. "It was a learning experience, but a lot of people learned in a very hard way."

Dunlap had never been outside Chicago before he enlisted as a high schooler. The 100-by-30-foot landing crafts he served on in the Philippines carried tanks and other military equipment. They were often under attack, sprayed with explosives by Japanese war planes.

"I didn't celebrate holidays or birthdays for three years while I was in the military," Dunlap said. "You really appreciated your families when you were away."

He also learned the value of higher education after realizing that those who had a college education had better jobs in the military. Dunlap applied to colleges while still in the service.

"I don't know what I would have done to make a living if I had stayed in Chicago and not gone to school," said Dunlap, whose grandsons attend Brookside.

Eddy Goldfarb served on the World War II submarine USS Batfish, the subject of several books. Goldfarb studied radar and volunteered for submarine duty. On the way to the Pacific via the Panama Canal, Batfish saw its first action when it encountered a Nazi submarine. Goldfarb served five missions of two months each in the Pacific.

Goldfarb displayed a commendation plaque from Fleet Adm. Chester Nimitz, commander of the Navy at the time.

"We were sprayed by machine guns, bombed very much, but we're here," said Goldfarb, who attends reunions with fellow crew members. "When they were charging us we would go as deep as we could to lessen the effect of the explosion."

Marty Horan enlisted in the Air Force, but wound up at Infantry basic training at Camp Roberts near San Luis Obispo. He volunteered for a secret mission that took him to the island of Iwo Jima near Japan. Horan's job was to dig foxholes and set up communications equipment. It took the Americans three weeks to secure the island instead of the expected five days.

"There were Japanese soldiers by the dozens with machine guns in volcanoes on the island. It took four or five months to get every Japanese soldier out of the mountain," said Horan, who remained on Iwo Jima for a year. "They were bringing wounded soldiers back to our ship. I got scared."

At Oak Hills Elementary, World War II veteran Kal Loeb described enlisting in the Air Force but being transferred to Infantry.

"Wars are not something we ever want for our country," Loeb said. "Millions of our men and women were killed in World War II. It was the most disastrous war we ever experienced. We are some of the people who managed to live through it."

At Brookside, fourthgrade students sang military songs, inviting veterans to stand when their branch song was sung. About 15 veterans participated, many relatives of Brookside students.

Commendation certificates from Ventura County Supervisor Linda Parks were presented to each veteran. Several veterans spoke in classrooms, including Kayitz Finley, a marine who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Finley discussed enlisting after high school because he didn't know what to do with his life. He described basic training in San Diego.

"Part of our job was to work together. We did everything together, which helps you build teamwork. We had to be proficient together when overseas," said Finley, who is now a senior at UCLA.

Ron Stephens, a Vietnam veteran, spoke to fifth-graders in a class taught by his daughter-in-law Cindy Stephens. He described the food eaten by soldiers.

"Crations were called that because they came out of a can. You'd get a little chunk of meat in one, a piece of corn bread in another and maybe some beans," Stephens said.

Jose Santos, a Marine who served during the first Gulf War, talked about his training.

"Basic training for the Marine Corps is three months, and then you have to train more for what you're going to specialize in. Some of us wish it was shorter, but you need the time to learn," said Santos, the father of a Brookside student.

Others who spoke included Oak Park Schools Assistant Superintendent Cliff Moore, a Vietnam veteran, and Byron Weinstein, a World War II veteran.