ghuinness
03-20-2005, 20:15
news article (http://www.pennlive.com/columns/patriotnews/asiseeit/index.ssf?/base/columnists/1110622821172080.xml)
Unheralded sacrifice of Randall Shughart is demeaning
Monday, March 14, 2005
Did Sgt. First Class Randall Shughart sacrifice his life so the students at his former high school could have a new all-weather surface on the high school track? Apparently Big Spring Student Council thinks so. This was the most appalling remark made at the recent school board meeting that once again rejected efforts to name the new high school building in Shughart's honor.
Shughart gave his own life to save that of a fellow soldier on Oct. 3, 1993, in Mogadishu, Somalia. Along with Master Sgt. Gary Gordon, Shughart was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously for his actions above and beyond the call of duty.
His story was featured in the book and movie by the same title, Black Hawk Down. It is a story that has a long and spiritual history: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13).
Shughart was a 1976 graduate of Big Spring High School in Newville. The Navy has named a ship and a class of ships in honor of Shughart, the Army War College in Carlisle has named a residence hall in his honor, and the mayor of Harrisburg has named a street in his honor.
Shughart is further honored in North Carolina at the Airborne & Special Operations Museum, in Louisiana in a military training town of 27 multistory buildings, in Colorado with a hall at Fort Carson, and in the best free enterprise tradition of America, by SOKO Toys, which has produced a G.I. Joe-like doll of Shughart.
There is one place however, where nothing is named in honor of Randall Shughart. That is his hometown of Newville, where he was raised, and in particular, Big Spring High School, his alma mater.
Big Spring recently built a $30 million high school, and for several years Richard Chamberlain, a Korean War veteran, has been attempting to have the new building named in honor of Shughart.
However, the superintendent of schools and the school board members have resisted every attempt. In 2001, they stated they "could not support naming the new school building for one veteran when many graduates had served in the military."
Since the Civil War ended in 1865, only three other men from central Pennsylvania have been awarded the Medal of Honor -- one from World War II, one from Korea, and one from Vietnam. That is how rare this honor is. Four people in 140 years! THE ALUMNI OF MY college fraternity, Chi Gamma Iota, or XGI's, have been following this issue for the past year. We have met with our new student members, who are veterans of the Gulf War, Iraq and Afghanistan, and we have decided to take action to honor Randall Shughart regardless of what this school board does, or for that matter, thinks.
There are hundreds of us in central Pennsylvania and most of us graduated from Harrisburg Area Community College or Penn State University on the G.I. Bill. We are all military veterans and now some have children of their own in Iraq and Afghanistan. We worry about our own, of course, but we also worry about everyone over there.
We know what it's like to sleep in a muddy foxhole on Christmas Eve, to eat cold C-Rations in a monsoon, to read the same letter for the 100th time, to wonder what all your classmates are doing tonight, to wonder if the ship is going to ride out the storm, to wonder if the next chopper ride will be the last, and to wonder if anyone really cares.
Our members are at a loss to explain Big Spring's callous attitude toward Randall Shughart, but we believe it is strongly influenced by the superintendent of schools, one of the many of our generation who earned a doctorate while also managing to avoid military service during the Vietnam War.
It appears someone has misled the students of Big Spring High School that naming the new building, a piece of concrete and glass, would do away with the name of the school district as well. Indeed, a petition with 498 student names was presented against honoring Shughart.
The board last week again unanimously rejected the request to name the building. Chamberlain and other veterans proposed to pay for a plaque that would be placed outside the school auditorium honoring all veterans who have served in the armed services. This was rejected by a 6-3 vote and led to the most telling aspect of this chilling attitude within the Big Spring High School.
Members of the high school's student council stated, "The veterans should focus their efforts on raising money for something the school needs, such as an all-weather surface for the high school track,"
And now this former Marine wished he could tell those little darlings what they really need, in addition to a history lesson. But I will instead refer them to West Perry High School.
The day after the shameful episode at Big Spring, it was announced that West Perry students have begun work on a Vietnam War monument at the school. They previously unveiled a Korean War monument in 2002, and a World War II monument in 1995. THE STUDENTS got permission from the school board and have already begun to raise the $8,000 themselves. The students also submitted their own designs, which will have a "welcome home" theme. I have never been so proud to be from Perry County. They will be hearing from Chi Gamma Iota.
Sadly, Big Spring High School also has another rare distinction. It has already lost two graduates, Nicholas Morrison and Timothy Hayslett, to the war in Iraq. Within the Randall D. Shughart high school building there should be an auditorium and gym named in their honor. Perhaps they could be dedicated by another graduate, Matt Brown, who has spent the last year in Walter Reed Army Hospital.
As we used to wonder when we were overseas, does anyone really care?
ROBERT D. FORD writes from Perry County.
Unheralded sacrifice of Randall Shughart is demeaning
Monday, March 14, 2005
Did Sgt. First Class Randall Shughart sacrifice his life so the students at his former high school could have a new all-weather surface on the high school track? Apparently Big Spring Student Council thinks so. This was the most appalling remark made at the recent school board meeting that once again rejected efforts to name the new high school building in Shughart's honor.
Shughart gave his own life to save that of a fellow soldier on Oct. 3, 1993, in Mogadishu, Somalia. Along with Master Sgt. Gary Gordon, Shughart was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously for his actions above and beyond the call of duty.
His story was featured in the book and movie by the same title, Black Hawk Down. It is a story that has a long and spiritual history: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13).
Shughart was a 1976 graduate of Big Spring High School in Newville. The Navy has named a ship and a class of ships in honor of Shughart, the Army War College in Carlisle has named a residence hall in his honor, and the mayor of Harrisburg has named a street in his honor.
Shughart is further honored in North Carolina at the Airborne & Special Operations Museum, in Louisiana in a military training town of 27 multistory buildings, in Colorado with a hall at Fort Carson, and in the best free enterprise tradition of America, by SOKO Toys, which has produced a G.I. Joe-like doll of Shughart.
There is one place however, where nothing is named in honor of Randall Shughart. That is his hometown of Newville, where he was raised, and in particular, Big Spring High School, his alma mater.
Big Spring recently built a $30 million high school, and for several years Richard Chamberlain, a Korean War veteran, has been attempting to have the new building named in honor of Shughart.
However, the superintendent of schools and the school board members have resisted every attempt. In 2001, they stated they "could not support naming the new school building for one veteran when many graduates had served in the military."
Since the Civil War ended in 1865, only three other men from central Pennsylvania have been awarded the Medal of Honor -- one from World War II, one from Korea, and one from Vietnam. That is how rare this honor is. Four people in 140 years! THE ALUMNI OF MY college fraternity, Chi Gamma Iota, or XGI's, have been following this issue for the past year. We have met with our new student members, who are veterans of the Gulf War, Iraq and Afghanistan, and we have decided to take action to honor Randall Shughart regardless of what this school board does, or for that matter, thinks.
There are hundreds of us in central Pennsylvania and most of us graduated from Harrisburg Area Community College or Penn State University on the G.I. Bill. We are all military veterans and now some have children of their own in Iraq and Afghanistan. We worry about our own, of course, but we also worry about everyone over there.
We know what it's like to sleep in a muddy foxhole on Christmas Eve, to eat cold C-Rations in a monsoon, to read the same letter for the 100th time, to wonder what all your classmates are doing tonight, to wonder if the ship is going to ride out the storm, to wonder if the next chopper ride will be the last, and to wonder if anyone really cares.
Our members are at a loss to explain Big Spring's callous attitude toward Randall Shughart, but we believe it is strongly influenced by the superintendent of schools, one of the many of our generation who earned a doctorate while also managing to avoid military service during the Vietnam War.
It appears someone has misled the students of Big Spring High School that naming the new building, a piece of concrete and glass, would do away with the name of the school district as well. Indeed, a petition with 498 student names was presented against honoring Shughart.
The board last week again unanimously rejected the request to name the building. Chamberlain and other veterans proposed to pay for a plaque that would be placed outside the school auditorium honoring all veterans who have served in the armed services. This was rejected by a 6-3 vote and led to the most telling aspect of this chilling attitude within the Big Spring High School.
Members of the high school's student council stated, "The veterans should focus their efforts on raising money for something the school needs, such as an all-weather surface for the high school track,"
And now this former Marine wished he could tell those little darlings what they really need, in addition to a history lesson. But I will instead refer them to West Perry High School.
The day after the shameful episode at Big Spring, it was announced that West Perry students have begun work on a Vietnam War monument at the school. They previously unveiled a Korean War monument in 2002, and a World War II monument in 1995. THE STUDENTS got permission from the school board and have already begun to raise the $8,000 themselves. The students also submitted their own designs, which will have a "welcome home" theme. I have never been so proud to be from Perry County. They will be hearing from Chi Gamma Iota.
Sadly, Big Spring High School also has another rare distinction. It has already lost two graduates, Nicholas Morrison and Timothy Hayslett, to the war in Iraq. Within the Randall D. Shughart high school building there should be an auditorium and gym named in their honor. Perhaps they could be dedicated by another graduate, Matt Brown, who has spent the last year in Walter Reed Army Hospital.
As we used to wonder when we were overseas, does anyone really care?
ROBERT D. FORD writes from Perry County.