FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP – A military veteran from Freehold Township sought to inspire pupils in schools he attended in his youth with messages of heroism, values, military sacrifices and freedom of choice.
David Clemenko visited three schools in the Freehold Township K-8 School District on Nov. 6 in recognition of Veterans Day, Nov. 11, and the 100th anniversary of the United States’ involvement in World War I.
He spoke with children at the Eisenhower Middle School, the C. Richard Applegate School and the Barkalow Middle School.
Clemenko is the public affairs officer with the 77th Sustainment Brigade, Liberty Warriors, which was activated during World War I and is also recognizing its 100th anniversary.
He has been serving on reserve duty for four years following 11 years of active duty with the U.S. Marine Corps.
“It is a great opportunity to get in front of the kids and highlight how World War I shaped our military for the next 100 years and what freedom means,” Clemenko said. “Freedom is choice and the job of the military is to protect freedom.
“We never forget the sacrifices made by veterans to protect that freedom and Veterans Day is the one day we think about and celebrate that freedom. If I can inspire any one of these children with these same values, that is an accomplishment for me,” he said.
At the Applegate school, which he and his family members attended, Clemenko told fifth grade pupils how the 77th Sustainment Brigade was surrounded by hostile forces during World War I and were rescued after a pigeon was able to send a message, despite being shot.
“One million Americans were sent to fight in World War I and 230,000 never came home,” he told the children.
Clemenko spoke about the concept of freedom, which he said he and his fellow service members are sworn to protect.
“What is freedom?” he asked the pupils. “Freedom is choice. You choose to live the way you want. (Having) no choice means you go out to the field and work. It doesn’t matter if you are 10 years old. It doesn’t matter if you want to be a doctor. It’s been decided for you. It’s been decided who you are going to marry.”
“Freedom isn’t free. There are thousands of people who look just like me who are fighting for our freedom. When they leave, they won’t see their family for another nine months,” he said.
Clemenko discussed the bravery of veterans while speaking with first grade pupils at the Applegate school.
“They are so brave,” he said. “On Veterans Day, we thank them. Being a veteran means you leave your family to protect them. That’s what you do. Just remember when you see a uniform like the one I’m wearing, that’s a soldier, that’s a Marine, that’s a sailor, that’s an airman, that’s a Coast Guard member.”
Aspects of military life he shared with the pupils included sleeping conditions and the food that members of the armed forces receive from the government.
For the first-graders, Clemenko read “Winnie,” a book about the real-life bear who helped inspire “Winnie the Pooh” and had been cared for by a Canadian soldier during World War I.
With the fifth-graders, Clemenko discussed being heroic and noted they will be leaving elementary school at the end of the current academic year and entering middle school.
“Kids, you can be a hero to anyone,” he said. “What you have to do is have values that can help someone else.”
While sharing his own experiences, Clemenko spoke about the aspects of being heroic – honesty, empathy, respect, optimism, integrity and courage.
In discussing honesty, which he described as understanding who you are and what you believe in, Clemenko acknowledged he had difficulties when he was younger which resulted in him being sent away from Eisenhower Middle School to live with a relative in Haddonfield.
“I was not a good kid,” he said. “I was not honest with myself.”
During his first day at a Haddonfield school, Clemenko sought to join a group of students he assumed were popular. When he spoke to them, the students asked him to attack a boy he had befriended over the summer.
“I wasn’t courageous enough, so I made the wrong choice,” he said. “As I punched that kid, I will never get the look on his face out of my head. I would give anything to tell those (other) kids I wasn’t doing to do it, but I can’t. You (the Applegate fifth-graders) can.”
He described empathy as not laughing when a fellow student drops his or her belongings in the hallway and instead helping that student.
“Empathy is understanding we are all different, but we are all humans,” Clemenko said. “You (the pupils) are going to need it in middle school.”
For respect, he advised students to respect each other, their parents, their siblings and their teachers.
“Nobody owes you anything,” he said. “You want to get a work ethic in right now.”
Optimism, Clemenko said, is finding the good in things.
On the subject of integrity, he told the pupils their own integrity can only be judged by themselves.
“Integrity is doing the right thing when no one is looking,” he said.
As an example of integrity, he said that when he watches sports on television he stands when “The Star-Spangled Banner” is performed.
Clemenko described how while he was in the military, a candy machine was left open, prompting him and others to take the candy.
“I thought I wasn’t stealing,” he said.
However, military police began conducting room searches and arrested those who were found with the candy. Clemenko expected to be taken to the brig (military prison), ending his military career, but the officers stopped their search three doors away from his room.
“That was the moment I realized my values were not right,” he said.
The last value Clemenko spoke about was courage and he urged the pupils to do what they believe in, regardless of what their peers tell them to do.
“Five friends will tell you something that is not in line with your values,” he said. “I did not have the courage back then. You have to have the courage to do the right thing.”