Recent History is Still History for the Young

Pottstown Fire Chief Richard Lengel with students at Edgewood Elementary School who are
learning that patriots come in all shapes and sizes.

Blogger's Note: Once again, John Armato serves as the living example to remind you all that The Digital Notebook accepts submissions from all sources.

Second grade students at Edgewood Elementary School took the opportunity to thank the Pottstown Police Department and Fire Departments for their service to the community.

As part of the Patriot Day recognition programs, Tina Ludy’s and Jamie Harle’s second graders made thank you cards for officers in the Pottstown Police Department thanking them for helping to protect our community every day.

Members of all of Pottstown’s firefighting departments also received thank you cards expressing the students’ appreciation for the role that firefighters play in keeping our community safe.

Fire Chief Richard Lengel was on hand for a special presentation ceremony and acknowledged, “Receiving thank you from some of our younger citizens is greatly appreciated by the members of our department.”

Ludy acknowledged, “It is most important for our young people to recognize those members of our community that go above and beyond the call of duty every day to ensure our well being and safety.”

On Sept. 11, 2001 the patriots wore fire helmets
and police badges.

ADDENDUM: It occurs to me, reading this submission, that the children who filled out these cards were not alive when the events that served as the inspiration for Patriot's Day occurred.

Mr. Armato and I had a discussion recently about the Civil Rights movement and about how, for students today, it is no different from other history they learn in school. 

Unlike Mr. Armato and, to a lesser extent, myself, they did not live through it. It does not carry the emotional power for most of them that is does for us older folks. 

And here we have another example, an event that still burns clearly in the minds of so many adults, is to the second graders at Edgewood Elementary School, little different than learning about the signing of the Declaration of Independence or the Roaring 20s.

To them, it's already history.

It serves as a potent reminder why we should never forget our history or the sacrifices of those who made it possible.