The Westport-Weston Chamber of Commerce celebrated Memorial Day weekend with an ad from a lawyer soliciting business for DWI arrests.
Staples High School did it right.
“Good Morning Staples” — the student-produced TV show that airs in classrooms and hallways around the school — departed from its usual fare of artsy announcements and offbeat interviews on Thursday. The entire 14 minutes was devoted to 2 combat veterans: Rich Franzis and Bruce Allen.
Franzis — a popular assistant principal, and a reservist — returned last year from a tour of duty in Iraq.
Allen — a longtime Westport resident and special policemen — served decades ago, in World War II.
Prompted by English instructor Dan Geraghty — who served active duty with the 10th Mountain Division, then was an infantry officer with the National Guard — the 2 men talked quietly and honestly about many things: going over, and coming home. Honoring dead comrades and friends. What Memorial Day means today.
Franzis’s and Allen’s experiences were vastly different — and compellingly similar. They did not glamorize war — in fact, Allen called all wars futile.
They did something even more important: They made every Staples student think about what this weekend signifies.
Let’s hope they’re not the only ones.
(Click here to see the “Good Morning Staples” Memorial Day tribute — it may take a while to load. If that doesn’t work, click here first, then on the flag.)
