Social Education 77(5), pp 239–242
©2013 National Council for the Social Studies
Recovering the Lost Voices of World War II
Learning about World War II
at the D-Day Beaches of
Normandy
Lynne M. O’Hara
I have to admit, I was initially reluctant. I did not like being responsible
for a high school student abroad. I had
never heard of student-teacher cooperative learning. But the chance to walk on
Utah and Omaha Beach was too great a
pull. I decided to take a risk.
Through a blind essay read, I chose
my student, Carson Rolleri, to apply for
the institute with me. I warned her that
the odds were against us. We completed
the application and a few weeks later I
received an offer. It was a wonderful
moment to call a student at home and
ask, “Do you want to go to France this
summer?” Her squeal of delight was one
of the highlights of my teaching career.
And so our journey began.
The Albert Small Student/Teacher
Institute—Normandy: Sacrifice for
Freedom was inaugurated by National
History Day (NHD) in June of 2011.
Albert H. Small, a noted businessman,
philanthropist and veteran, had long
had the desire to create a program that
would inform younger generations of the
sacrifices made by his generation during
World War II, and in particular during
the D-Day Invasion. In 2010, Mr. Small
turned to NHD, an innovative curriculum of student-driven research projects,
to plan and implement such a program.
Photo by Melissa Andersen
In the winter of 2011, I was working late in my classroom at Central Bucks High
School West in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, when I opened an email offering a summer
institute where 15 teachers would walk the D-Day beaches in Normandy, France.
The catch—each teacher had to bring one high school student.
Charlyne Cuyar, a 2013 student scholar,
pauses at the grave of her Fallen Soldier,
PFC Pedro Rodón at the Normandy
American Cemetery.
Each year, 15 students and 15 teachers
are selected in a national competition for
the extensive learning experience. In June,
this group of students and teachers is
transported first to Washington, D.C.,
and then to Normandy, France, for an
unparalleled opportunity of in-depth
learning. Participants in the Institute gain
not only a better understanding of World
War II, but a greater appreciation of our
country’s role and the sacrifices that were
made for freedom.
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The Institute begins with a shipment
of books. Over the following five months,
student-teacher teams read to prepare
for the seminar. Carson Rolleri and I
had the same reading assignments, and
we met regularly to discuss the material
and to craft responses for online discussions. This gave many of the high school
students their first taste of a college seminar format, while having a one-on-one
mentor.
Teachers and students participated in
discussion boards to share their reflections and reactions to books like Alex
Kershaw’s The Bedford Boys, Stephen
Ambrose’s Band of Brothers, or the
World War II cartoons of Bill Mauldin.
Many realized that there was much more
to this program. Jenna Gilbertson, a 2013
student participant, noted that an online
discussion of conscientious objectors
from Studs Terkel’s The Good War left
her realizing “…how much I really did
not understand sacrifice.”
Participants studied the Normandy
campaign through a series of lenses. They
studied military strategy and tactics,
considered the geographic challenges in
mounting a land invasion of Europe, and
discussed political consequences of the
decisions made by Franklin Roosevelt,
Winston Churchill, and others. But they
also contemplated the economic realities
of the Great Depression in the United
States, and the social history of the men
and women who served in uniform and
on the home front. They grappled with
2013 student
scholar Reilly Ries
collects sand on
Omaha Beach.
(Photo by Cathy Gorn.)
challenging historical questions—how
does one deal with conscientious objectors in World War II—and considered the
theme of leadership as officers prepared
men for the hellish reality of combat.
In addition to the academic readings,
each student chose an individual from
his or her home state or territory who
fought in the campaign and is buried in
the American Cemetery above Omaha
Beach in Colleville-sur-Mer, France.
This assignment allowed each student
to study the campaign through the eyes of
one soldier or sailor. Students “adopted”
these men and researched their lives.
Seamus Ryan-Johnson, a 2013 student
participant, noted that the research process “made memorializing our soldier
much more of a personal investment.”
Students researched the soldier or
sailor’s hometown during World War II
and the history of their military unit and
family. Utilizing census records, family
remembrances, high school yearbooks,
draft and enlistment records (those
few that survived the 1973 National
Archives fire in St. Louis, Missouri),
students began to reconstruct the story
of one person.
In 2011, Carson chose Technician
Fourth Class Willard U. Begel, from
Lehighton, Pennsylvania. She wanted
to choose an ordinary soldier, and I was
initially skeptical that we would find
much of any information on this man.
I was wrong.
He worked as a welder before being
drafted into the Army in July 1942.
He trained at Fort Indiantown Gap,
Pennsylvania, and later at the port of
Boston, before boarding the USAT
Edmund B. Alexander and heading to
England. His job on Utah Beach was to
load and unload supplies from ships for
transport to shore. Begel was killed on
June 15, 1944, when German air strikes
hit Utah Beach. He was sleeping in his
foxhole on the beach.
The research process was challenging
but rewarding. Carson noted that this
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project helped her “really get a feel for the
man’s character, his job, and the dangers
to which he was exposed. These pivotal
sources were not easily found, and the
research required a lot of patience, ingenuity, and lost hours. But this also made
finding a new document even more exciting. We had found something that would
help us get a better look into our soldier’s
life, another piece to the puzzle.”
The research concluded in late June
as the teams met in Washington, D.C.
For five days, student-teacher pairs
attended lectures from historians to gain
“the structure and scholarship needed
to understand this historical event,” as
Kelly Steffen, a 2013 teacher participant,
stated. Experts from academic and military institutions offered lectures while
staff from National History Day helped
the students and teachers process the
knowledge.
In addition, teams spent one day
researching at the National Archives.
The goal of the Washington segment of
the Institute was to help the participants
gain an understanding of the historical
context, place their soldier or sailor into
the context of the invasion, and consider
the role of the home front during the war.
This research helped students connect
to the campaign in a way that no book
could. Teacher Kenneth Tucker, also a
2013 participant, noted, “The soldier
research allowed our students to apply
cognitive historical skills to a noteworthy
and patriotic cause.” But more importantly, the students identified with the
person whom they called “my soldier”
or “my sailor.” During the Institute, they
asked questions based on their research.
They studied maps and photographs at
the National Archives, looking for their
specific soldier. And while most never
find that particular person, they gained
great insight.
The tone of the trip changed when
the teams traveled to Normandy. They
spent the next five days exploring the geographic locations they had studied. There
the students became experts, giving briefings about the campaigns in the locations
“their” soldiers or sailors had been. A
student who studied a paratrooper from
the 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions
explained the importance of the French
town of St. Mère Eglise and the need to
control the causeways at the bridge at La
Fière. Another student discussed the role
of Operation Neptune while standing
on Utah Beach; and another explained
the process of notifying families of their
loved one’s passing at the American
Cemetery.
Reading history is powerful, but
standing in the place where it happened
offered an added dimension of authentic
geographic, tactile, and spatial learning
experiences. On Omaha Beach, in the
shadow of the fortified bunkers and the
machine gun nests, students listened and
learned in a very different way than in
the classroom. When these American
teenagers saw the place and felt the waves
on the shore, the Normandy Invasion
became understandable in a way that
is impossible to achieve in a classroom
alone. “Having the chance to see all of the
Normandy battlefields and landmarks
was powerful, because after several
months of research, I fully understood
the significance of each location,” said
Timothy Cohn, a 2013 student participant. Another participant, Karee Wicks,
said, “I could stand on the beach and
To expand the reach of the program,
National History Day and National
World War II Museum are collaborating to develop “Silent Heroes”—a
classroom program modeled
after the research that Normandy
Institute teams conduct. Silent
Heroes, currently in its pilot phase,
will launch in 2014. More information will be available on the NHD
website www.nhd.org
National History Day is running
the Normandy Institute from June
21-July 3, 2014. Applications are due
by midnight on Monday, December
2, 2013. Information can be found at
www.nhd.org/normandyinstitute.htm
actually imagine the soldiers running to
take the bluffs and causeways.”
Some students tried to do what the soldiers did. “I ran up Utah Beach like the
infantry men would have except I had it
a lot easier and that was still the hardest
run I have ever had to do,” said Jenna
Gilbertson, another student. “As soon
as you start running you immediately get
hit by the wind and also you run through
water which once in a while had holes
that you couldn’t see.”
These emotional connections got
stronger when students reached the locations near where their soldiers or sailors
fell. Students began to see the locations
through the eyes of their soldiers. “I was
able to not only see where history took
place but also be a part of the past,” wrote
Charlyne Cuyar. “Strolling along the very
shores of Omaha and Utah Beaches …
one can somewhat picture what it would
have been like in 1944.… The translucent
seawater became that of a reddish color
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due to the excessive amount of blood
shed by countless soldiers…. This was
one of the most emotional aspects of the
Institute, coping with a reality that happened a few decades ago.”
The final day of the trip was the single
most powerful and moving educational
experience. After walking across bridges
and causeways, climbing up bluffs and
down into bomb craters, shivering in the
rain in the hedgerows, the students paid
tribute at the graves of their heroes in the
Normandy American Cemetery.
The group traveled to each of the
individuals’ graves or names on the
Wall of the Missing. The students placed
American and French flags in front of the
graves, and then presented their eulogies.
Some told stories. Others recounted tales
from family members. Some students
wrote or recited poems and others sang.
At the conclusion of their eulogies, the
flags were given to the students so that
the soil of Normandy would return home
with them.
The process is emotional, exhausting,
and fulfilling. Charlyne Cuyar recalled,
“The day I presented my eulogy, I felt
butterflies. When I pressed the sand on
his name, I couldn’t help but think of
all he sacrificed. As I read what I had
written, I couldn’t help but weep about
all he wasn’t able to do.”
Teams also processed the enormity
of the 9,387 graves and 1,557 names
on the Wall of the Missing. Seamus
Ryan-Johnson said he realized the terrible immensity of the war. “Each grave
memorializes an individual whose life
was unique, and for many, tragically
short,” he said. “I have a greater understanding of and appreciation for the
many young men who sacrificed their
promising futures for a greater purpose.”
Many students noted that they were
often the only person to have ever visited the grave of that particular soldier.
“We each had chosen just one person
in a sea of many,” said Carson Rolleri.
“It allowed us to really connect to the
fear and loss that came with Operation
Overlord, reminded us that each number, each casualty, had a face, a family,
and a life, all given up in the sacrifice
for freedom.”
Melissa Andersen, a teacher who participated in 2013, wrote, “Mentoring a
student through her project will remain
one of the most important highlights of
my career, because not only did I witness
her becoming a more passionate learner
by asking questions and facilitating her
own research but I also got to see her
become a more globally aware young
adult.”
The lessons of the Institute continued
as participants returned to their home
states and presented their learning to
local audiences in the school and communities. Lauren Grunding, a 2011
scholar, found the brother of Dewey
Newhart, the soldier she researched,
after returning home. A discussion with
John Newhart revealed that Dewey had
not received two medals he had earned.
Working with her teacher, Derek Frieling,
they filled out the applications for the
medals, had them approved, and pre-
sented the medals to John Newhart in
a public ceremony. “It was a moment,”
Frieling remarked, “that made me proud
that Lauren and I were able to complete
the recognition that Newhart deserved
after all those years in making the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our country.”
Albert H. Small’s vision continues
to spread. Over the last three years,
Normandy Scholars have represented
28 states, one territory, and the District
of Columbia. Students and teachers continue to share their learning and powerful
experience through classrooms, assemblies, and presentations to audiences
large and small.
“Having sifted the sand of Omaha
Beach through my fingers, having
stood in a bunker where impossibly
young German soldiers mowed down
impossibly young American soldiers
with machine guns ... my world-view
has changed, my approach to teaching history has changed, and a deeper,
more profound understanding of the
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S o c i a l E d u c at i o n
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price of American freedom has been
born within me,” said Stephanie Smith,
a 2013 Normandy Teacher Scholar.
The Normandy Institute offers a
unique historical learning experience
that puts a human face on conflict. It is
a sobering realization that helps participants comprehend the human cost
of war and the importance of continued diplomacy. “Survivors of conflicts
realize the magnitude of what they have
done,” wrote Josh Bill, a teacher. “While
we stood on the beaches, they lived it,
formed bonds, gained and lost friends.
They can proudly proclaim that they
bore the brunt of war’s cruelty, all the
while standing up for the noble ideals of
the United States—the ideals, like peace,
are never perfectly achieved.” It is the
story of these imperfect men and women
who bring history alive.
Lynne M. O’Hara was a teacher participant in
the Normandy Institute in 2011. She is currently the
director of programs of National History Day.