Piper Hamilton’s Grandad, Ronald E. Broadwell served as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy from 1956 to 1974 as a Combat Information Center Watch Officer. His experience in the Navy allowed him to work on many important programs including the Apollo ll Lunar Landing Mission and an early stage calculator that eventually help land a man on the moon.
Myles Rice’s paw paw, James H. McGahee, served in World War II as a Navigator in a B-24 Bomber. He was part of the Ploesti Air Raid that disabled the German’s oil refinery and crippled their war machine. He was saved by the Dutch resistance after being shot down, he ran from the Germans before being double crossed and spent the remaining 18 months of the war in a prison camp. After the war, he finished his degree at Texas A&M and was called back to the Air Force. James helped put the first satellite over Russia and became a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Air Force. He served a total of almost 30 years in service to his country.
Dominic Rosario’s Grandad, Angel Rosario was a courageous Infantry Soldier who served two combat tours in Korea and Vietnam and a total of 27 years in the Army. When left his native Puerto Rico, he was deployed to the Korean War and became tri-lingual when he learned the Korean language too! During the Vietnam War, his tank blew up. He was injured, but managed to help his fellow soldiers to safety. Angel, James and Ronald are true heroes!
Portraits of Courage is a New York Times Best Selling book of paintings by George W. Bush, highlighting men and women, wounded in Operation Iraqi Freedom and their stories of patriotism, courage and recovery.
In honor of Veteran’s Day and the 43rd President, 31 students from George W. Bush Elementary created a mini version of the Portraits of Courage book honoring the stories like those mentioned above and other veterans currently related to our George W. Bush Elementary students with their own works of art. This allowed each student to get to know more about their family history and their amazing Veterans that gave us the gift of freedom. You can order a copy by clicking on the cover above.
Creating these portraits allowed our kids to learn more about their grandparents and the honor and sacrifice of their service to our country. The value of celebrating these American heroes and showing our gratitude for their gift of freedom.
Thanks to their principal, Dr. Maricela Helm, for this wonderful idea to shine a light on these heroes, promote patriotism and make this connection to President George W. Bush. In this season of thanksgiving, I am so grateful for our blessing of freedom, the amazing heroes that protect it and awesome educators like Dr. Helm who keep these stories alive in our families and in our hearts. Celebrating patriotism and honoring sacrifice, it’s the Wylie Way!