By Angela T. Koenig
Enquirer contributor

U.S. Army paratrooper Monika Proesser talks to students at Fairfield South Elementary School. (Glenn Hartong photo) | ZOOM |

A traveling school program encourages students to learn about history - military history that is, with a focus on honoring veterans.

"It's up to us and the generations to come to remember the sacrifices veterans made for our country," said Vietnam Era veteran Jim Herrmann, 63, of Hebron, who coordinates the program for the Cincinnati Chapter of the 82nd Airborne Division Association, which he also chairs.

What association volunteers bring to the classroom, Herrmann said, is an overview of military service and the history of the 82nd Airborne.

But what really sparks student interest is the display of memorabilia such as a World War I ration pack and a World War II dummy parachute and flak jacket.

"Kids like to see and touch, so we try to keep the formal stuff to a minimum,'' and tread lightly around the horrors of war, said volunteer John Myers of Delhi Township. He is the membership chairman for the group.

The organization, which received its charter in May 2001, has made presentations at several Tristate schools.

"It's very important because a lot of these kids have family members in the service and wrote to the soldiers" when the war in Iraq began, said Beth Baltzell a second-grade teacher at Fairfield South Elementary, where volunteers appeared Monday. "You can tell that they are very passionate about this by the stories they tell," Baltzell said.

"We'll do it anywhere, anytime, as many times as we are invited" in Greater Cincinnati and nearby points beyond, said Myers.

This kind of enthusiasm, said the 82nd Airborne Association's National President Duke Armendariz, is what makes the Cincinnati chapter one of the fastest-growing and most active in the country.

"It's a very cohesive chapter, and growing at a rapid pace, which you can attribute to the leadership they have,'' Armendariz said.

There are 112 chapters nationwide, with more than 20,000 members.

The Cincinnati chapter got its start in 2000, with only about a half-dozen veterans. Now there are about 60 members, including paratroopers of all ages and all types of service.

There are two World War II paratroopers as well as veterans of Vietnam, the Grenada invasion and the Gulf War. There are also veterans who served in peacetime, reservists and National Guardsmen.

The school program is just one facet of the association. The group also has a color guard that marches in parades and visits veterans in hospitals and nursing homes.

"It's all part of our association's responsibility; our commitment to service," Herrmann said.

For more information about the school program, or how to become a member of the association, contact Jim Herrmann at (859) 689-7970.