SHARONVILLE — Pat Bowes was a businessman getting his teaching degree at Xavier University in 1996 when he discovered a classroom of bright college students were clueless about the Vietnam War.

Pat Bowes positions students for a tableau recreating the April 30, 1975, fall of Saigon. (Glenn Hartong photo) | ZOOM |

        Mr. Bowes vowed that every child who came through his classroom would learn about the war that changed the country, wounded his older brother and took the lives of three friends.

        “If we don't learn about it, if we don't teach about it, then those men died in vain,” he said of the 58,000 Americans who died in the war that stretched from 1959 to 1975.

        Mr. Bowes, a Sharonville Elementary teacher from Deer Park, kept his word. He has developed a thorough Vietnam War curriculum for his gifted and talented students in grades 3-6.

        He started teaching the curriculum in January so the unit would be finished by the time The Wall That Heals, a half-scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, visits the school Wednesday through Monday.He wanted his students to understand why the wall is so important.

        Generations of children are growing up not knowing about the Vietnam War, he said, for two reasons:

        • Their dads and granddads who served in the war won't talk about it.

        • Schools aren't offering adequate instruction.

        “Sometimes the more recent history — World War II, the Korean conflict, Vietnam — doesn't get as much attention because it falls near the end of the year,” said Jim Boothe, chairman of the education department at Xavier University. “You try to hurry up and fill that area. It's a challenge to keep the curriculum balanced.”

        Dr. Boothe and Mr. Bowes said it's important that students know about Vietnam because it, too, helped shape our national identity.

        Mr. Bowes started building the curriculum last May, often staying up past midnight researching.

        “I'm not a veteran,” said Mr. Bowes, 47. “But when I was growing up (in Lancaster, Ohio), it seemed like every week there was a picture of a local guy killed in Vietnam in the local newspaper.”

        His draft number was 39 when President Nixon ended the draft in 1972.

        Beyond the facts, the curriculum teaches students why they should care about those who served.

        “It doesn't matter if you're 8 or

        88. All people want to know someone cares about them,” Mr. Bowes said. “That's all the veterans want. They don't want a lot of glory. They just want to know someone cares.”

        His 38 students seem to have gotten the message.

        “It's a very confusing unit as we get deeper and deeper into it, but Mr. Bowes says that's OK as long as you care,” said fifth-grader Kevin Donnelly, 11. “I've learned a lot of facts and statistics, but mostly, I've learned to care.”

        Mr. Bowes has taught about the war before, but nothing this elaborate. His room is decorated with Vietnam maps, articles and artifacts.

        Guest speakers, such as Bob McNeal, commander of American Legion Post 790 in Sharonville, bring the war to life. The 58-year-old Sharonville man served two tours totaling 26 months in Vietnam.

        “Any adult, especially any veteran, would appreciate the sense the kids bring to these kinds of things,” Mr. McNeal said. “They're curious. Fellows, like myself, look back at our youth and wonder if these kids would do what we were called to do. I believe they would.”

        Part of the class is dedicated to tableaus or re-creating scenes from the war. In one tableau, students re-created the April 30, 1975, fall of Saigon. On the roof of the U.S. Embassy, an American soldier stood in a helicopter, arm outstretched to Vietnamese men, women and children trying to help them escape.

        Kevin Donnelly assumed the role of the soldier as Mr. Bowes helped others into position. “Raise your right hand,” he said. “You're asking for help.

        “... Close your eyes. I want you to leave this classroom and go to Vietnam. Think of the Vietnamese people. The reason we went there was to help them. Now, the war has ended. We're trying to save as many people as we can.

        “I want you to think of mothers holding their children. In some cases, mothers even handed their children over to people in front of them. It's a scene of desperation. ... I want you to put yourselves in their shoes. Think, too, of that soldier who had to make choices. He wants to help everybody, but he can't.

        “You can open your eyes. Look up at Kevin. I want you to plead for help.”

        There are no sounds — only sober expressions on the students' faces and sorrowful, pleading eyes.

        “That's a powerful scene to me,” Mr. Bowes said.

        “It was heart-wrenching,” said Paige Barker, 11, a fifth-grader who was near the end of the line. “I wasn't going to be able to be with my friends on the plane.”

        Learning about the Vietnam War can be frustrating because the students want clear answers, Mr. Bowes said. There are none.

        The students look forward to seeing the wall this week and honoring the veterans.

        “A lot of people disagreed with the war,” said Holly Thompson, 12, a sixth-grader. ""Even if the war wasn't a good thing, people still got hurt and still served their country. We should honor them for that.”

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