Veterans share experiences

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LIVING HISTORY LESSON: Nicholas Bandinelli talks about his experiences in Korea as his granddaughter Sarah listens. Bandinelli was a guest Friday at Ben Franklin Middle School where grandparents visited to give students an opportunity to learn social studies from people who lived history, rather than through history books. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

November 11, 2011

Special to the News The Tonawanda News The Tonawanda News Fri Nov 11, 2011, 11:29 PM EST

TOWN OF TONAWANDA — Nicholas Bandinelli proudly stood next to his granddaughter Sarah in the Benjamin Franklin Middle School library, and was the first volunteer to share his experiences at social studies teacher Tara Gabel’s “Take Your Grandparents to Social Studies Day.” Wearing a large navy baseball cap with the words “Korea Veteran” emblazoned above the brim, Bandinelli provided the group of students and their families with a “living history lesson” about the war.

“When the Japanese left, they cut the country in half, two different governments. Democratic in the South, and Communist in the North. When I first saw Korea, I saw it from a ship, and I didn’t like it. I didn’t see much of the country, and I was there almost two years. They call Korea ‘The Land of the Morning Calm.’ I gotta tell you, that’s not what we called it,” said the Korean War veteran.

More than 40 students and their families participated in Gabel’s “Take Your Grandparents to Social Studies Day” at Franklin Middle School. The goal for Gabel is for students to think about the fact that important history lessons can be learned from the loved ones all around you.

“I encourage students to record their grandparents, listen to their stories, to keep and treasure them forever. All of the lessons we’ve been reading in class, on issues like war and immigration, a day like this one makes those lessons very real for students,” added Gabel.

Many grandparents, great uncles, and great aunts went around the Franklin Middle School library table and shared stories about their family’s lives during World War II, Korean War, and the Vietnam War.

“It’s nice to learn from these experiences, rather than learning from a book. Books are words. When you’re talking to another person, you can see their emotions, how they feel about things,” said eighth-grade Benjamin Franklin Middle School student Bailey Zalint.

“So often we go through life, we have a lot of memories, but we don’t pass them on to other people. It’s important for our younger generations to recognize the experiences of other people, because they may help them with their own lives,” added Bailey’s great uncle Angelo Coniglio.

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