School honors veterans on day for those who served

Deepa Bharath

Jim Pilkenton was awarded two Bronze Stars and three Purple Hearts

for heroism and wounds in the Vietnam War.

He knew that recipients of three Purple Hearts could return home

if they wished, but it didn’t even cross his mind.

It’s that patriotic fervor and love for freedom that America will

be celebrating this Veterans Day, he said. Pilkenton will be the

keynote speaker at St. John the Baptist School in Costa Mesa on

Thursday at its fifth annual Veterans Day Tribute.

The event was started to educate children about Veterans Day and

its significance, teacher and event organizer Mary McMenamin said.

“It brings these wars a lot closer to the children,” she said.

“It’s a lesson in world history.”

Year after year, children at the school hear stories from

participating veterans, McMenamin said.

“Last year, we had a woman who was the last surviving nurse from

Pearl Harbor,” she said. “Her story made the whole war so much more

personal to the kids.”

It’s Pilkenton’s first time talking at the Costa Mesa school.

“My message to the children is that we need to stop hating one

another and find the good in each other,” he said.

He also hopes to put Veterans Day into context for children who

are seeing and hearing about the war in Iraq, Pilkenton said.

“They need to understand that freedom is not free,” the

56-year-old Los Alamitos resident said. “There’s a price to pay, and

we often look at it as too big to pay. It’s not.”

He hopes to share with the children his belief that the country is

at war “because we’ve been attacked as a nation,” Pilkenton said.

The event has grown tremendously over the years, parent Katie

Shoenberger said.

“In past years we’ve had anywhere between 40 and 60 veterans

attend each year,” she said. “We did not expect such a response when

we started it. But it’s great.”

This year’s event will feature all students -- kindergarten

through eighth grade -- singing patriotic songs. The school’s bell

choir will also perform. The Scouts of America will provide the color

guard, and Costa Mesa High School student Thomas Kosnosky will play

taps. The event is open to the community and veterans who would like

to participate, Shoenberger said.

“It’s a program to teach our children what Veterans Day is and how

important these people are to us,” she said. “It teaches them to

appreciate those serving in the armed forces and how they’ve served

our country.”

* DEEPA BHARATH is the enterprise and general assignment reporter.

She may be reached at (714) 966-4625 or by e-mail at

[email protected].