School reports explore war life

The north Bear River Valley has a rich military history. This area in and around Tremonton was home to the Borgstroms — four brothers from one family that were all killed in World War II — among others. Gail Halvorsen, also known as the Berlin Candy Bomber, is from there, as is Jared Kimber, the Toy Bomber in Iraq. There was a Japanese internment camp in the region.

So four years ago when Tamera Newman, who teaches English at Bear River High School, was looking for a meaningful writing project, she thought about the stories of veterans from the area.

"We were reading a lot of literature about war: 'The Red Badge of Courage,' 'A Separate Peace,' and I suggested the students interview veterans for their responses to those books."

Eventually, the students collected 305 reports on veterans — enough that Newman decided to have them published. "Veterans of Bear River Valley" sells for $22.95 and is available at Feldmans and The Leader in Tremonton.

That one focused mainly on World War II. "Now we're about two-thirds through with a second volume that will be mostly Korean War veterans."

Students were asked to find a veteran and research the story. Some went to cemeteries to find graves marked with special crosses. Some talked to friends and relatives. "We included veterans who had died as well as those who are still alive." If a veteran was no longer living, the students talked to family members or other people to get the details.

Among the biographies they have compiled are stories of veterans such as these:

• Dale Compton, who joined the army at age 25 in 1944. His squad was the second to arrive on Leyte Island in the Philippines, where as part of mopping up operations, his job was to flush out Japanese who were hiding in the jungle. Later he was stationed on the front lines on Northern Luzon — lines that were so close to the Japanese side that the men could hear each other talking in their foxholes.

• Leon Grover, who started out digging foxholes and traps and then was charged with recovering bodies of soldiers who had died. He fought on Anzio Beach in Italy, and was in Italy when Mussolini and his girlfriend were hanged — and took a picture.

• Lee Eldredge, who served on a detachment assigned to the war crime trials and was in the courtroom when Japanese General Yamashita was sentenced to hang. He also heard part of the trial of General Homma, the leader of the Bataan Death March.

• Jasper Lee Rhodes, who put his farm background to use in a battle in Italy. When he noticed a field with a lot of haystacks and no cows, he became suspicious and began firing into the haystacks, where the enemy was, in fact, hiding.

Newman expected that the assignment would help the students develop a better appreciation of both the sacrifices the veterans made and the freedoms that the students enjoy because of it. But another thing that has come out of the project are the relationships that the students have developed with the older generation.

"A lot of the students have continued to visit with the veterans or their families, have taken cookies, have had contact that continued beyond the assignment."

Typical of the responses from the students, was this one from Caelyn Gifford. "I discovered that this was not just a dumb assignment that my teacher was giving me; this was an assignment about real people and their lives."

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