Episode 193: Students Step Back in Time Thanks to Passionate Teacher

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. It looked like a scene straight out of an old movie. We're talking about World War II Day at West Jordan High School.

On this episode of the Supercast, find out why history teacher Alyse Almond is so passionate about preserving American military history. She's giving students a real-life history lesson, with the help of World War II historians, hoping to connect today's students to the stories of those who served our country and sacrificed so much.

We're here with social studies teacher, Alyse Almond at West Jordan High School. And I'm finally getting to see this tradition of World War II Day. Tell me a little bit about this.

Alyse Almond:
So World War II Day started about eight years ago here at West Jordan High School. Me and my friends, we are the Utah Military History Group and we do living history from World War I through Vietnam. And our passion is World War II, so we wanted to bring the history to the students in a very tangible way.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, it's obvious you're doing that. I see vehicles, it feels like I'm on a MASH episode, I know that's the wrong era, but this particular ambulance gives me that feel. We've got uniforms, it looks like we've got all kinds of materials from the time period. So, and several vehicles that are probably getting the attention of people driving by, wondering if there's a military takeover of West Jordan High School. So can you talk me through what we've got out here.

Alyse Almond:
Yeah. So we have a World War II 1945 CCKW, which is a truck made by GMC.

Anthony Godfrey:
Let's walk over there.

Alyse Almond:
It was built in 1945. So this is Layne Schoenfeld and this is his 1945 GMCCKW.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about your CCKW, Layne.

Layne Schoenfeld:
Well, one of the most common vehicles used during World War II, it was used to transport troops and material. It was the backbone of the Red Ball Express. I don't know if anybody's familiar with the Red Ball Express but that was basically a supply route from the beaches in Normandy, France, up deeper into Europe and on into Germany, supplying the troops the front line.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about the state it was in before you refurbished it.

Layne Schoenfeld:
It was a rust bucket. It had been sitting outside for 20 years, just filling up full of leaves and dirt and the water raining on it. So it was all rusty and it was missing a few pieces here and there.

Anthony Godfrey:
It's pretty amazing. How long did this restoration take you?

Layne Schoenfeld:
I'm ashamed to say it took me 15 years.

Anthony Godfrey:
Hey, that's something that you just chip away at over time.

Layne Schoenfeld:
Yeah, life got in the way a couple of times.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, it's pretty exciting that West Jordan High School is the first event. How does it feel to have it out in the public now?

Layne Schoenfeld:
It feels good.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah.

Layne Schoenfeld:
It feels good.

Anthony Godfrey:
What got you interested in World War II initially?

Layne Schoenfeld:
My father was a World War II veteran,  and him telling me a few stories.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, thank you for sharing it with the students here at West Jordan High School.

Layne Schoenfeld:
You're welcome. It's a pleasure and an honor. And hopefully, the students learned a little something and we can keep history alive. That's what this is all about.

Alyse Almond:
We also have two World War II Jeeps here. One is a 1942 Willys and one is a 1944 Willys. These are both quarter-ton all-utility vehicles that were used in World War II. And then here we actually have, this is a weapons carrier and this is Dave Vuyk.

Anthony Godfrey:
Hi Dave.

Dave Vuyk:
How are you?

Alyse Almond:
And this is his vehicle and have you-

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about this vehicle.

Dave Vuyk:
It's a 1944 Dodge weapon carrier. It's a three-quarter ton. This is a copy of the original build card that went through the factory with this truck.

Anthony Godfrey:
Oh wow. So do you turn some heads when you're driving this down the road?

Dave Vuyk:
Yeah, for sure. And people love it. I think people find it fun.

Anthony Godfrey:
You might not beat people off the line.

Dave Vuyk:
Oh, we don't, yeah. No, we don't beat people off the line. My son Schyler, who's in here, he had Miss Almond for history. Kind of got the bug. And I have a little bit of it, but I'm not into the uniforms and some of that.

Anthony Godfrey:
Between you and Miss Almond, he's hooked, huh?

Dave Vuyk:
Oh, yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, thank you for sharing this with West Jordan High School.

Dave Vuyk:
We love it.

Anthony Godfrey:
So exciting.

Dave Vuyk:
This is fun.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah.

Dave Vuyk:
And you know, a little bit of education is fun.

Alyse Almond:
So this is Brent Fordham. He is our medic in our living history group and this is his medic display and ambulance.

Anthony Godfrey:
Hi Brent. How are you?

Brent Fordham:
Good.

Anthony Godfrey:
This is, you have not only the ambulance behind you, which looks incredible, but you've also got all kinds of first aid kits it looks like, and first aid materials. So this is everything a combat medic would have carried. Tell me, can you walk me through this?

Brent Fordham:
A lot of what you see is just like an assortment of like random bandages. A medic’s sole purpose, they weren't licensed doctors, so they really just did like band-aid work just get them stable enough to get them to an actual hospital.

Anthony Godfrey:
What is it that got you interested in the medic aspect of World War II?

Brent Fordham:
Well, I've always been into history. My dad did reenacting when I was a kid, and I've just always kind of been drawn to the medical stuff. I don't really know why. I mean, as a kid, I wanted to be a paramedic.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, thank you very much for bringing all this here and for allowing students the chance to interact with this. I have no doubt that this will have a lasting impact on them.

Brent Fordham:
I hope it does, that's why we do it.

Anthony Godfrey:
We're at the board with lots of photos and bios, it looks like, from various veterans of World War II. Tell me about this board.

Alyse Almond:
So we do-- this is an honorarium for the family members of our faculty and staff who served in World War II. So I send out a message to all of our faculty and staff. And last year and this year, they sent me back their stories and their photographs of their family member veterans.

So like up in the corner, we actually have Principal Birch's dad, who was a World War II, he was in the Army Air Corps in World War II and he was on a B-17 and he was actually shot down over Germany on one of his missions and he became a POW. And he was a POW for six months during World War II.

And then we have the stories of like our, the woman who runs our Jag Stash here, her dad, was also in World War II. He was in the Army. He served on Okinawa. And so we have his story.

We also have the story of my great-uncles on here. We have the stories of one of our science teachers here, actually. Her great-grandpa, when she sent me his name, all she had was his name, that he died and where he died, and the name of his family, so his wife and his kids. They didn't know anything else. And I actually ended up researching him and finding out what regiment he was with, what division he was with, and what happened to him and when he was killed in action.

Anthony Godfrey:
So she didn't know all of this and you were able to uncover some facts about his life.

Alyse Almond:
Yep.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, this really ties it to the faculty as well. Again, another way of adding dimension to history and to make it personal.

Stay with us when we come back, more on World War II Day, and we'll hear from a student who came back to West Jordan after graduating to show off his own collection and express appreciation for his experience in Ms. Almond's class.

Break:
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Anthony Godfrey:
We're here with some of the students at West Jordan High School that have been able to be part of World War II Day. Tell me your name.

Brayden:
Brayden.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me a little bit about your experience.

Brayden:
It's been really exciting to see all the vehicles and all the stuff. I've had family members that served, so that's why I took the class. And my great grandfather was a pilot, so they let me hold the aviator stuff. So it was really good to see what he would have worn and what he would have done.

Anthony Godfrey:
What are some of the things that you've learned that might have surprised you in this class?

Brayden:
How brutal the war was in the Pacific, because I feel like most of the time we think of the war in Europe and not in the Pacific. And also the other countries that were involved besides the United States and most of the European countries, like Brazil and Mexico.

Anthony Godfrey:
How about you? Tell me your name and some of the things you've learned from the class.

Joseph:
My name is Joseph and it's been an absolute amazing time being part of the class. I was largely and vaguely into World War II beforehand and I loved World War II and studying it, but this class has opened up so many more opportunities to learn. It's shown me stories about men on the front, it's shown me stories about how different things were, how Miss Almond usually brings in these uniforms. You get to see what did they wear, what were they working with, and it's more focused on the individual rather than the whole entire aspect of World War II. So it's been an amazing experience taking her class.

Anthony Godfrey:
It's true when you think about it as individual humans going through this it's very different from just talking about it in broad terms.

Joseph:
It went from tactical to more with the person instead.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah exactly. Tell me your name and a little bit of your experience in the class.

Tiernan:
My name is Tiernan. My experience with the class is great. It's always easier to learn with a teacher who is very enthusiastic about the topic like Miss Almond is. Something I learned in the class that I didn't know before was how pervasive it was, not just in the battlefield or in the military branches but also everything in each of these countries just on a civilian level was also in aid of the war effort.

Anthony Godfrey:
Citizens were a key component of war effort. Tell me your name and some of the things that stood out for you in the class.

Peter:
My name is Peter, but I go by Pidge. And I've always had a love for strategic battles and tactical warfare, and I study World War I on the side. I learned a lot about Italy and their involvement, the blitzkrieg that went into the Balkans and Greece. I've also learned a lot about the Pacific and the brutality of Japanese imperialism.

We look at war through a iso commander.  We see the battles. We see these casualty numbers from official reports, but when you look down at the average day-to-day life, when you go down to the civilian level, you see the mass amount of destruction, the massive amounts of sort of these atrocities that happened and sort of this realization that War is a lot more grimace than we think it is because we are never exposed to the sort of nitty-gritty of it.

Alyse Almond:
So this is Schyler Vuyk and he is actually a West Jordan High School alum. You graduated in 2019? And then after he graduated he joined our living history group. His focus is on the Coast Guard and the Merchant Marine because his great-grandfather was in the Coast Guard.

Anthony Godfrey:
So wow, this is a whole different set of artifacts. Tell me a little bit about what you have here.

Schyler Vuyk:
Well, we have an assortment of both personal objects and objects that they would have used on the ship anywhere between combat or if they had some time off. These are some objects that would have been privately purchased.

Anthony Godfrey:
This looks like a little kit that folds up together with playing cards. Is that what that is?

Schyler Vuyk:
Yeah, so it's playing cards, you have checkers, you have dice, and then this is a recent purchase. This is a wallet and the calendar was never used. This is fresh.

Anthony Godfrey:
Calendar for 1943.

Schyler Vuyk:
It was never used. It was bought by a gentleman on eBay. He said he bought it and then never used it. It sat in his house for years and he never used it and he sold it. And then this one I have not a whole lot of information on him unfortunately but this is him, this is Bob Sherman and then here's another picture of him. He would have, it looked like he served in every single theater during the merchant marine, well he served in the merchant marine during World War II.

Anthony Godfrey:
So you have photos from him and you have a case, is this a case of his medals.

Schyler Vuyk:
These are all of his medals, yes. And then what's interesting is this medal is actually a Russian medal, this top one right here. This is actually a 1985 Russian Jubilee medal. And from what I can gather, just by having a Russian medal is that he most likely would have supplied, he would have done what they called the Murmansk Run, which was when they had shipping boats transport shipping and stuff to the Soviet Union through the Arctic Circle, literally going over Finland and Sweden to get to Russia through like below zero temperatures and stuff like that. And some of them earned Russian medals if they were in Soviet waters that shot down planes. And then I believe what would have probably happened is he probably was invited back because some merchant marine and some Navy men were invited back to Russia if they participated and supplying the Soviet Union and I believe he was given that when he probably visited in 1985.

Anthony Godfrey:
So you have moved your collection in all kinds of different directions I love seeing the personal effects and these personal medals it really reminds you that they were individuals that were involved in this. Now tell me about these uniforms that you have here.

Schyler Vuyk:
These are Alyse's uniforms but I could probably talk a little bit about them. This is a Navy wave uniform. This would have been something they would have worn anywhere that they went on duty and I think this was also used for ceremonial like funerals dances and stuff like that. They would have been able to wear something like this.

Alyse Almond:
That is their dress uniform.

Schyler Vuyk:
Their dress uniform.

Alyse Almond:
And it was actually a big part of what they used to entice women into the military in World War II was we're gonna give you a lot of clothes and they're gonna look really good on you. And so the guy who actually designed the waves uniform, he was a well known New York fashion designer and then he sold his pattern for that uniform to the Navy for a dollar to support the war efforts.

Anthony Godfrey:
His contribution.

Alyse Almond:
Yep and so this uniform would be one that would be worn for official purposes and then the one that's actually behind it which is a gray dress with a beret that one was a dress that the Navy nurse were issued and they would wear that if they were not on duty and they were say going out with friends or going to a dance or other places.

Anthony Godfrey:
So between Ms. Almond and your dad and your family history you've become a serious history buff.

Schyler Vuyk:
I think that's a perfect observation to say.

Anthony Godfrey:
A lot of effort by a lot of people from the community and it's a tremendous experience for students to get some hands-on connection to the war. Tell me what do you hope students take away from this experience.

Alyse Almond:
I hope that students walk away from this day understanding that history is not just something that you read about in a book. That history is something that actually happened and that individuals lived those experiences. And when you can see and interact with the artifacts and the uniforms that those men and women used, I think it brings it alive for these students and it makes it something that is not just two-dimensional.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, thank you very much for the time today and for creating such an incredible, immersive experience and unforgettable experience for our students.

Alyse Almond:
Thank you.

Anthony Godfrey:
Thanks for joining us on another episode of the Supercast. Remember, education is the most important thing you will do today. We'll see you out there.