'Good teachers tell good stories’

 
Each year, hundreds of local students are bussed to the Worcester County Veterans Memorial at Ocean Pines to tour the grounds and learn a valuable lesson about where their freedoms come from. 
 
The Veterans Memorial Foundation, since 2010, has sponsored field trips for all fifth grade students in Worcester County. 
 
Walking the Patriot’s Pathway, children learn about the history of American conflicts. They also learn about the memorial itself and hear stories of heroism tied to local people who served.
 
Volunteer docents talk about the history of the U.S. flag, and the Junior ROTC demonstrates how to property fold and display it. 
 
 
 
Tim McMullen has been a volunteer docent since 2016. 
 
“Professionally, as a retired history teacher, I feel it is absolutely necessary that fifth graders start to appreciate military history,” McMullen said. “We have a movement in American high schools now not to teach about Gettysburg, not to teach D-Day. That frightens me.
 
“And also, I am just so proud of our community,” he continued. “I think what we have with this Veterans Memorial and this educational program is phenomenal.”
 
Personally, McMullen said both his parents served during World War II and later met in Paris in the spring of 1945. 
 
“My father, who was Donald McMullen, Sr., ended up as a full colonel with a 10th grade education and is a tremendous inspiration for everyone in our family,” McMullen said. “My mother, in 1942, got into an argument with her father and told him she was going to join the WACs, which was the Woman Army Corps. He told her she didn't have the courage enough to do it. So, she got on a bus and went to Boston. And I remember her telling me the next thing she knew she was in London during the Blitzkrieg.”
 
The couple were married in 1946 and soon after had two sons, 11 months apart: Tim and Don McMullen, Jr.


 
Along with his parents, McMullen said he was also inspired by his youngest brother, Bill, who enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1967 and served in Vietnam. 
 
“Bill spent three years in the service, and we just buried him a year ago. Among other things, he had respiratory lung failure due to Agent Orange,” McMullen said. “When we count the number of people that died in the Vietnam War, we count those people that died during that period, from about 1963 to 1974. But there are thousands and thousands of Americans who died from physical and emotional difficulties because of Vietnam.”
 
As a former teacher, McMullen said it’s important to engage visiting students with those kinds of personal stories. 
 
“What you have to do is ask each of them, do you have a veteran in your family?” he said. “Then I tell the story about these two people, one from Western Pennsylvania who quit school in 11th grade, lied about his age, and enlisted. And I tell them about the lady in Boston who got in a fight with her dad.
 
“Good history teachers can tell good stories. Those stories are important,” McMullen added. 


 
McMullen credited his brother, Don, along with Susan Pantone and Sharyn O’Hare, with making the educational programs a vital part of the community and an important part of each local student’s schooling.
 
He said volunteering also helps strengthen the bond with his brother. 
 
“For me to be able to do this with Don is very important,” he said. “Don and I are the two oldest in a large family. We were born the same year and we grew up like twins, although we're not twins. The fact that I'm doing it with Don is very important to me. 
 
“I think it’s also important to note that Don and I are not creating and inventing things – Don and I are carrying on the tradition that was taught by our parents. And now we pass the baton on down,” he added. 
 
 
 
Mary Adair, a former president of the Worcester County Veterans Memorial Foundation, has been involved with the education program for about a decade.
 
Her late husband, U.S. Army Col. Robert Adair, served two tours in Vietnam and she still describes herself as a military wife. 
 
“My husband served 28 years active duty as an officer. That was my life and it's very close to my heart – our country, our flag, all of it,” she said. “Everything that I live for is for our freedom and the fact that I want the children to be aware of this. I don't think that they're teaching it in school, so I try to instill in them the pride for our flag and for our country.”
 
As a docent, Adair talks about the history of the U.S. flag and some of its notable variations. In doing so, she said she tries to keep things light and keep things moving.
 
“I try to have an interplay with them,” she said. “I tell them that they're not in school and there's no wrong answers. Hopefully, they will learn some things from having gone through the presentation, but I also want them to ask questions. I want it to be kind of a conversation.”
 


Adair said she’ll speed through the first two colonies that joined the union, and then introduce Vermont and its role in history as that place that also gave us Ben and Jerry’s, skiing and maple syrup. 
 
“I usually go through all the New England states fairly quickly, so they can pick up on it. But when they do connect with something, you can really see their faces light up,” she said. 


 
Adair said everyone knows about George Washington, but many students don’t know much about the War of 1812, or Gen. Charles Cornwallis.
 
“I think it's important because a lot of adults didn't know that stuff either,” she said. “In fact, I didn’t know until I started teaching that the Queen Anne's Flag was the British flag that the British troops marched under, and I just think that's kind of cool to know!
 
“Over the years I've cut out quite a bit, but I still want them to know that if you hold a flag upside down that it's a sign of distress, because that's still useful today. And I like to tell them about who is third in succession for the president. So, just a few key points that I know they're not getting in school,” she continued.
 
"It's also got to be fun for them,” Adair said. “They're out there for a fun day. They're not out there to be in class, so to speak. So that's the way I try to approach it." 
 
 
 
For others who may be inspired to tell similar stories or give back to their community, Veterans Memorial Foundation President Marie Gilmore said there is always a need for volunteers. 
 
"We're always looking for new docents to tell the stories of our veterans,” she said. 
 
“If you feel strongly about your country and you feel strongly about the memorial, we welcome you with open arms,” Adair added.
 
Docent training generally starts in April, ahead of annual field trips in May and October. 
 
For more information on volunteering, call Susan Pantone at 410-430 1040 or Don McMullen at 443-388-2941.
 
To learn more about the Worcester County Veterans Memorial at Ocean Pines, visit www.opvets.org.