Lou DiPaolo (L) and Bill Currie (R). Photo: Ms. Fiocchi
Lou DiPaolo joined the Marines when he was 17 so he could fight in World War II. By the time he was 18, he was fighting in the Battle of Iwo Jima. Nineteen years later, 20 year old Bill Currie was drafted into the army and fought in Vietnam.
Recently, our eighth grades students listened attentively as these two veterans spoke of the wars in which they served. During the hour-long presentation, Mr. DiPaolo (equipped with a slide show, his “dog-tags” and “V-Mail”) and Mr. Currie spoke of the times they lived in, their experiences in war, their return to civilian life, and their perspectives of those wars all these years later. Though their circumstances were vastly different, both men discussed the horrors of war and expressed their love of their
The presentation by these valuable “primary sources” was part of the preparation for the eighth grade trip to Washington D.C. The experiences of Mr. DiPaolo and Mr. Currie will make the students’ tour of the monuments and their visit to The Price of Freedom, Americans at War exhibit at the National Museum of American History particularly meaningful. And to continue their study of “upstanders” in history, the class was honored to have two in their midst.
~Ms. Bower, EMS History Department Chair
