Gene Weinstein captivated his audience.
The 92-year-old Navy veteran of World War II showed neatly folded
newspaper and magazine clippings he had saved from the 1940s to a small group of sixth grade Circleville Middle School students sitting at a lunchroom table. He answered their questions – Where did you live when you in the Navy? Answer: On four different ships – and offered more information.
It was part of the school’s celebration of Veterans Day. And it was a true living history lesson for the students.
“I enlisted on my 17th birthday,” said Weinstein, a retired science teacher. “It was 10 months after Pearl Harbor. We were losing the war at that point. But in 1944, things really turned around.”
Weinstein served four years in the Navy. The photos he brought added another level of understanding to the students.
There were several veterans at the event, including Nina LaConte, a familiar
face at CVMS. Students know her as a music and chorus teacher but she also serves in the National Guard.
LaConte loves what she does in the guard, including meeting so many people she wouldn’t have met otherwise. The downside of it is being away from home, she said.
A couple more familiar Pine Bush faces included Pine Bush High School Principal Aaron Hopmayer and Assistant Principal Brian Lynn. Hopmayer served three years in the Army during Desert Storm while Lynn spent six years in the Navy.
After speaking to the students, Weinstein, LaConte, and the other veterans
who came in to share their experiences, enjoyed some patriotic music performed by the school band. Then, they ate breakfast together before the next group of students came by.
Veterans Day at Circleville Middle School is a highlight for Weinstein.
“This is his fourth year doing it,” said Lenore Weinstein, his wife. “He likes sharing his experiences with the kids.”