2016 Veterans Day Guest Speaker Program

From Braintree Public Schools:

The Braintree Social Studies Department and the Office of Veteran’s Services are coordinating our Annual Braintree High School Veteran Guest Keynote Speaker Program.

Dr. Gorman Lee, K-12 Director of Social Studies, and Richard Walsh, Braintree Veteran Agent, are once again collaborating in this exciting joint educational opportunity to recognize and appreciate the men and women who have proudly served in the United States Armed Forces.

This year, local veterans (some are BHS alum) will come to our social studies classes at Braintree High School all day long onMonday, November 7, 2016, and talk to students about their personal accounts of service in the Armed Forces.

Participating teachers have been asked to spend time to prepare students about the upcoming event. This week, social studies teachers are given the list of speakers who will visit their classes.

Breakfast and lunch will be served for all veterans and guests in the Braintree High School’s Teacher Conference Room, which is located in the second floor at Braintree High School. Special thanks to Megan Ahrenholz, Director of Food Services for the Braintree schools. Volunteer students will escort the veteran guest speakers to and from the classrooms throughout the school day.

Parking near the front entrance of the high school has been reserved for our veteran guests. Security and custodial staff have been notified of this event, and they have confirmed to me in assisting me in making sure the reserved parking is enforced. Special thanks to James Lee, Headmaster, the BHS custodian staff, and Michael Bradford, Head of Security.

Photographers and news reporters from the local press have been invited on this day to interview the veterans, teachers, and students. Appropriate press permission forms have been distributed to all participating classes for students and parents, and teachers to complete and sign.

Teachers and students will take upon themselves to write letters of thanks, or sign a thank you card, to the veterans for making time to come visit them and talk about their personal accounts.

If you have any questions or would like more information, please do not hesitate to contact me by email or by phone.

Below is a tentative list of the participants (veterans and teachers) of the 2016 Braintree High School Veterans Keynote Speaker Program.

Al Barese
Army Captain
1975-1990 and 1975-1979 at West Point
Berlin Brigade (FRG); Ft. Ord (CA); USMA, West Point (faculty and coach)

Brendan Byrne
Army Sergeant
2001-2007
Ft Carson, Iraq

Roger Desrosiers
USAF Sergeant
1970s (3½ years)
Vietnam (part of Nixon’s Vietnamization program); Saigon; Westover AFB, Chicopee (MA)

Dennis Geary
Army Staff Sergeant
2009-present
Ft. Benning (GA); Joint Base Elmendurf; Richardson (AK)
MOS-11B, infantryman; paratrooper

Peter Gillis
Army Sergeant
2001-2009
Operation Iraqi Freedom, 2003-2004

Heidi Hurley
USMC Sergeant
1975-1993
Parris Island; Camp Pendleton (CA); South Weymouth Air Base (MA); Camp LeJeune (NC)
President of the Women Marines Association, BayState MA-1
Braintree Public Schools, Director of Art

Matthew Howe
USMCR Lance Corporal
2014-present
SC, NC, NH, VT
Braintree High School Social Studies teacher

Douglas Hughes
Army SSG
2007-present
Ft. Hood (TX); Quincy, MA; Afghanistan; Iraq

Bradley Kezer
Army SSG
2006-2016
Germany; Georgia; Massachusetts
19K M1 Armor Crewman; 2 deployments (Afghanistan, Iraq)

Robert Medico
Army Staff Sergeant
1999-present
Ft. Campbell (KY); Ft. Carson (CO); Ft. Leonard Wood (MO); Camp Casey; South Korea; Iraq; Afghanistan; Kuwait

Frederic Myerson
USMC Corporal E-4
1967-1971
Vietnam; Iceland; MCRD Parris Island; MCRD San Diego; Camp Elmore; Norfolk (VA)

John Pelose
US Army; Army Reserves
Chief Warrant Officer 3
1967-2000
Vietnam; Germany; Iceland; Canada

Shawn Rounds
Army Staff Sergeant
2005-present
U.S. Fort Hood (TX); Iraq (Al Asad, Al Taji); Germany (Campbell Barracks, Clay Kaserne)
I am the Army National Guard Recruiting and Retention NCO for the Braintree area.

Robert Shadburne
MA Army National Guard; US Army SSG
1998-2009; 2002-present
Ft. Lewis (WA); Ft. Polk (LA); Fire Point Wali, Urugzan, Afghanistan

Joshua Thomas
Army Staff Sergeant/E6
2008-present
Ft. Benning (GA); Ft. Hood (TX); JBLM (WA); JSS WAREAGLE, Iraq; COS ECHO, Iraq; Camp Boehring, Kuwait; Camp Tajo, Iraq; Quincy Army Recruiting (MA)
I am an infantryman, part of the final convoy out of Iraq in 2011/2012

John Thompson
Army/Marine Corps Lt. Col.
1968-71, 1953-56
Vietnam; Korea

Alan Tibbetts
Army SP4
1972-1974
Germany
Braintree High School Art teacher

Richard Walsh
Army SP5
1967-1970

Ft. Belvoir, VA; Ft. Bragg (NC) Veterans Agent for Braintree, MA

Photo Courtesy of Pixabay