Army solider Lenny Bernstein saw combat and helped
to liberate a concentration camp during WWII
HONORING THE
“GREATEST
GENERATION”
Teen Engages Veterans to Discuss
War, Sacrifice and History
By Cyrus Kamkar
In the following article, Cyrus Kamkar (Mount
Madonna School [MMS] class of 2018) offers a
perspective based on his interest in World War II
and the veterans who have served in the United
States military. Last spring, Kamkar organized a
veterans panel held at MMS. The public is invited
to a second panel discussion on Friday, November 9,
from 9:00-11:30am at the school.
76
GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN
Navy veteran James “JP” Petersen talks with MMS students
OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2018
gmhtoday.com
provided
W
orld War II history has always been a strong
interest of mine. When I was 14, I remember
telling my mom “I need to meet and talk
to a WWII veteran.” The very next day, I
saw an old man wearing a WWII combat
veteran hat. I thanked him for his service and told him about
my interest. He offered to arrange a meeting so he could
further tell me his stories. His name was Joe, and he served
in the navy on a destroyer ship in the Pacific. He passed
away about a year after I interviewed him. Since then I have
continued to interview veterans.
At the beginning of the school year, a teacher asked us
to pick something that you are passionate about, and create
something social or interactive with it. I decided to do the
project on what I have already been doing, and to branch
out to veterans from other wars, such as Korea, Vietnam,
and Iraq/Afghanistan. I also thought it would be a good
idea to bring a panel of veterans up to MMS to share their
stories, which took a lot of work to organize. I made sure
to interview each participating veteran before the event so I
could have individual questions for each person about their
experience, rather than the same questions for all.
I feel that respect for veterans in today's culture is lacking,
unfortunately, especially amongst my age group. The panel
discussion at MMS was amazing! I wanted to make sure students
had the opportunity to listen to these veterans’ stories. The event
went for two and a half hours, and I was shocked to see at
the end, that instead of going straight to lunch, all the students
walked up and thanked the veterans for their service.
My goal with this effort is to spread awareness of the
importance of soldiers’ sacrifices. When people talk about how
horrible Hitler was, they forget to mention that he could have
won. If it weren’t for the United States and its brave soldiers, the
world would be a very different place. What I am doing is not a
message of pro war, if anything, it is anti-war. The further away
we get from remembering these incidents in history, the closer
we are to war and losing freedom. This can’t be thought of as
something that happened a long time ago. War is relevant.
I am thankful to our faculty for allowing this panel discussion
to happen. I am also very grateful for the veterans who
participated: James “JP” Petersen (S-1 seaman, Navy, WWII),