Heartland Community College welcomed veterans involved with the Livingston County War Museum on Wednesday for a living history exercise called “Through the Eyes of Veterans.”
Heartland students read war letters sent home from veterans who were serving abroad and were given the opportunity to speak with veterans associated with the museum.
Amanda Walton, an adjunct instructor of history and political science, organized the visit, sharing what inspired her to put it together.
“I was inspired by my grandfather’s own stories of war from when I was younger, as well as recently talking to my one grandfather who is still living,” Walton said. “My two best friends also served.”
Walton had her students conduct research to find letters written by veterans that they read aloud to their fellow students and visiting veterans.
“A few students sent me really great websites that had, like, numerous letters on them, so I would use some of the additional letters that they sent in for other students,” Walton said.
Walton said she had encountered the Livingston County War Museum while teaching a course in Pontiac, where the museum is located. She had spoken with the museum’s education director, David Estes, about some of their offerings.
Estes was drafted into the Army while teaching in the Chicago suburbs. He served in the 25th Infantry Division during the Vietnam War, and shared some of his experiences during his time in the service.
“I was in Vietnam one year — nine months in the jungle searching for the enemy, the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese Army,” Estes said.
Estes shared how he feels looking back on those memories today.
“It still affects me; you never forget that,” he said. “My dad, a veteran of Normandy — Omaha Beach on D-Day — would say that as well. You just don’t forget it.”
“Those of us who made it back from Vietnam have an obligation to build again, to teach to others what we know, and to find with what’s left of our lives a goodness and meaning to this life.”
Art Leach, a former Navy pilot during World War II and a graduate of Illinois Wesleyan University, shared how he first became involved in the service.
“The war started before I graduated,” Leach said. “I graduated from college and two days later, I was in uniform.”
Leach said he anticipated being drafted, so he enlisted under the position he desired before he could be assigned something different.
“I enlisted to be a pilot and made it [in the] Navy, and somehow thought I ought to be on a ship because there [wasn’t] enough violence out there,” Leach said, jokingly. “I think it was a learning experience. I think I was always lucky; never got hurt, never got shot and my airplane never quit on me.”
“Sometimes life is lucky,” Leach continued.
A panel discussion followed the students’ discussions with veterans.
Walton and Estes also acknowledged an education grant known as the Liberal Arts & Social Sciences Innovation Grant that funded the “Through the Eyes of Veterans” event.
Speaking on the Livingston County War Museum’s offerings, Estes said his job is to organize Zoom meetings and field trips.
“I ask all teachers out there to contact us and to set up a Zoom with our veterans and their students,” he said. “Teachers can also ask for a field trip; we’d be happy to show them.”
