Friday, November 29, 2002
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Students will study Vietnam War in a virtual way The Newnan High School Vietnam War class will participate in the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund drive to attach a photograph and remembrance to each entry on the Virtual Wall this winter, and students need Coweta County citizens' help in collecting the remembrances. NHS history teacher Steve Quesinberry has developed and will teach the new Vietnam War elective history class, which begins in January for junior and senior students. Quesinberry - a student himself of 20th-century American history - recently received statewide recognition for his teaching when he was selected by the Veterans of Foreign Wars as Georgia Teacher of the Year, for his efforts to make American military history come alive for his students. Local veterans nominated him for the honor. Dick Stender, Quartermaster of the local Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2667, has high praise for Quesinberry's efforts to offer a living history experience to his students. "What Steve has accomplished over the past three or four years is just extraordinary," said Stender. "Our young people are hearing first hand about why and where veterans have served this nation in both peace and war. In just a few years, they will bear the responsibility for our security, and educators like Steve ensure that they know about the legacy of service which they are inheriting." VFW post members are helping Quesinberry in the Virtual Wall project, and Stender praised Quesinberry for the work he has done on planning the new class. "Newnan High School and Steve are breaking new ground in the teaching of history," said Stender. "We are excited about the project and the class." Quesinberry is looking forward to the start of the new class in January. "The average high school history book," said Quesinberry, "is about two and half inches thick and encompasses perhaps a thousand years. That means that Vietnam era is covered in just a few pages. It was a time of great turmoil, tragedy and heroic effort in this nation and always elicits more student questions and interest than the normal history course has time to address. We have an exciting and interesting course planned and I look forward to the opportunity to teach it." A major part of the new course will have the students look at the twenty three lives of the Cowetans who died during America's nearly twenty-year involvement in Vietnam. Like all the 58,229 service members who died there, they are engraved on the tablets of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C. "The Wall," as it is best known, is the most visited memorial site in our nation's capitol. As a part of the class, NHS students will participate in the Virtual Wall project (www.thevirtualwall.org) whereby local citizens help "put a face with a name" appearing on the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial in Washington D.C. Thevirtualwall.org is solely dedicated to the Vietnam Memorial. "This site contains a page for every name on the wall and there is room on each page for personal information and a photo of the dead service member," said Quesinberry. "We want to strive to ensure that our native sons are more than just names and dates. Each of our students will be assigned one of those twenty-three and will research records and interview friends, families and former military comrades when possible." "So this year we will be attempting to find photographs and histories of the men that died in the Vietnam War from Coweta County," said Quesinberry. "Student teams will be assigned men from this county that died in Vietnam to find a photograph and any other information possible to post on the Virtual Wall." "What the class needs is any information available about these men in order to track down a picture or someone that knew them. Family members, names of schools, known friends either locally or in another state are possible contacts that may lead us to a photograph and/or a remembrance," he said. "Newnan High School feels that this type of project will be a great learning experience for our students in a number of ways and that it will be good for the community as a whole," said Quesinberry. Those who can help can call Quesinberry at Newnan High School, or can reach Stender at the VFW Post 2667.
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