Veterans visit Naples Park students to convey messages

"By the time I reached high school, the war was full blown," he said. "I left in my junior year in high school to enlist in the Navy. I'm telling you this story as a warning: Don't leave school."

That may seem to be an unusual message from a World War II veteran to Naples Park Elementary School youngsters during a Veterans Day celebration, held a day early at the school. But he wanted the students to learn from his mistake: Finish school before considering the military.

"It didn't take me long to learn I wished I was back in high school," he said.

That was one of several messages that Austin, 77, who survived two kamikaze attacks Jan. 21, 1945, on the USS Ticonderoga, conveyed to the youngsters during a Veterans Day event at the school. He was joined with 13 other veterans who, collectively, spoke with students in 30 classes at the school. Other Collier County public schools hosted similar visits with local veterans.

The focus at Naples Park was tying in the school's three R's -- respectful, responsible, and resourceful -- with veterans' experiences in the armed forces.

When it comes to being respectful, Austin said, he and his comrades on the Ticonderoga were respectful of their captain, and the students need to be respectful of their teachers.

He brought with him the ship's flag, now framed, that's tattered and stained with soot from the kamikaze attacks on that unforgettable day, but, nevertheless, the proud symbol of all the freedoms the United States stands for, he said. The flag had been stored away but he brought it out after the Sept. 11 attacks.

"When you go to a parade and see the flag, please stand," he told the students, instructing them to protect the flag and all it means. "You are our future."

Donald Treadwell, 85, who served four years in the U.S. Coast Guard, a commander of the amphibian air forces during World War II, talked about the kamikaze and how Japan later learned "force was not the way to become a world power."

Ed Motekew, 63, who served in the U.S. Marines during the Vietnam War, told the students that Monday marked the 228th birthday of the Marines. The Marines originated in 1775 in Philadelphia, where young men enlisted in a tavern. During Vietnam, Motekew flew medevac flights transporting the injured to treatment.

The Marines have always been resourceful and adaptable, because they traditionally receive fewer dollars from the government than the other armed force branches, he said. And being respectful of others is fundamental to the Marines because they have always worked as a team, he said.

"That means you've got to have respect for your fellow Marine," he said.

Last, when it comes to being responsible, Motekew told the youngsters that whether they go into the military or not, they must take responsibility for their actions.

"When you do something, you're going to be held responsible down the line," he said.

He received the Purple Heart after being shot down during a medevac flight, but said he doesn't consider himself a hero, just someone in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"I was doing my job," he said. "I hope that none of you, including my own grandchildren, have to go to war. But if you do, do your duty and do an honorable job."