Beer students remember the ‘Unknown Soldier’

WARREN/ARLINGTON, VA. — When four Beer Middle School students placed a commemorative wreath at Arlington National Cemetery on April 21, it hit close to home. 

As an honor guardsman led the way, eighth graders Tristen Yang, Cierra Pérez and Violet Monaco, and seventh grader Emmalyn Hinman, remembered our nation’s fallen soldiers during a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

The students have or have had family members that served in the military and wanted to pay their respects. The arrangement contained red, white and purple flowers with a ribbon that read “Beer Middle School.”

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which stands atop a hill overlooking Washington, D.C., serves as a symbolic grave for the remains of wartime service members who have not been found or identified. Beer is part of the Warren Consolidated Schools district.

“I felt like I was honoring all of the soldiers that served and all the forgotten soldiers,” Yang said. “I felt the majority of the crowd respected it.”

As Pérez walked down the stairs towards the grave, she thought about her sister Amanda who is in the Air Force, has three children and lives in New Mexico.

“It made me happy. It made me think of her and all the memories we have together,” Pérez said. “It was interesting. It gave us an opportunity to do something that’s amazing.”

Another family member was on Pérez’s mind: her brother Dylan, who died two years ago. Although he did not serve in the military, the somber tone of the wreath-laying formalities brought up feelings of his loss.

“He would have been proud of me and happy,” Pérez said.

To make sure the Beer students followed protocol, they met with a guardsman in full honor uniform beforehand to go over instructions. In addition, the students had to follow a dress code. A crowd of visitors formed during the event, which included the students placing their hands over their hearts as a soldier played taps. Everyone was quiet during the process.

“He was really nice,” Monaco said of the guardsman who helped them with the task. “He looked strict because they have to be, but he was actually nice.”

Two of Hinman’s uncles served in the Armed Forces, as did her brother.

“Some of the things were scary, especially with my brother. I was young and I didn’t understand what it meant when he was going away,” Hinman said. “My uncle was in Desert Storm and my brother was in Iraq. It was scary what they had to go through.”

Hinman was “a little bit nervous” before the ceremony, but when the commander “told us what to do, it sent a wave of excitement” over her.

“I was proud to give something in their honor,” Hinman said. “It meant the most to me. I felt connected to it. I think it’s a symbol of protecting each other and protecting our freedom.”

The students were part of a group of 50 people from Beer — including students, parents and teachers — that traveled to Washington, D.C., April 21-23 for an educational trip. Beer teacher Justin Wesley organized the excursion to the nation’s capital through WorldStrides, an organization that offers a wide variety of educational travel programs in the U.S. and abroad.

The group traveled by bus throughout the capital, visiting various museums and monuments, including the National World War II Memorial, the White House, Washington Monument, Ford’s Theatre, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Capitol Hill and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

Visiting Arlington was what Yang enjoyed most.

“I feel like my favorite part was the Lincoln Memorial,” Monaco said.

Helping the students to better understand each stop was WorldStrides course leader Bing Spitler. The tour guide, for instance, was present at the Arlington wreath ceremony, an activity that is open to any school.

“The Tomb has been here since 1921,” Spitler told the students. “It’s an honor to guard the grave.”

Spitler’s knowledge about the sites the touring group saw left an impression.

“I feel like he was hands-on,” Monaco said. “He’s putting you out there and making you have an experience.”

“I liked him,” Yang said. “He’s a very knowledgeable man.”

Many students wished they could have spent more time in D.C.

“It was very pretty here,” Monaco said. “Three days was not enough.”