Martin Baratti stands with a picture of his grandfather in his hand, commemorating him.by Kaitlyn Ngo and Amy Vu, Staff Writers
As a person with several honorable veterans in his family, Martin Baratti, a history teacher at FVHS, views Veterans Day as an important holiday to commemorate the brave and selfless actions of those who are serving or had served in the army.
Some of Baratti’s notable family members who were directly involved in American war efforts are his father, uncle, grandfather, and two brothers. All of them were drafted, except for his grandfather, who Baratti believes to had volunteered.
Baratti’s grandfather experienced World War I, his uncle participated in World War II, his brothers were stationed in West Germany during the Cold War and his father served during the Korean War.
After fighting in World War I, Baratti’s grandfather brought back several memorabilia, including a German helmet and bayonet, medals awarded for his service, a shell casing engraved by a German prisoner and uniform buttons given by British, German, and French soldiers. One of the medals he received was by the French government during that time.
Although Baratti’s uncle did not like to talk about war, he eventually opened up and revealed both the ugliness and cherishable moments of being a soldier. Still, he recognized that he met lifelong friends, some of whom he goes hunting with to this day.
Baratti believes that one of the greatest obstacles that his family members faced when in service was having to cope with being away from home, a feat many soldiers still struggle to overcome today.
To celebrate Veterans Day, Baratti encourages his students to stop and thank veterans for their services and to recognize the veterans’ important contributions to American security.
Kevin Doane, another history teacher here at FVHS, views Veterans Day as a day to commemorate and thank the veterans who have sacrificed their lives for our country. With two of his family members being veterans (his grandfather and uncle), he feels especially honored and prideful of this day dedicated to them.
He describes both his grandfather and uncle as two honorable men, saying, “[My grandfather and uncle] were both awesome people, both were family men who took care of their families and worked super hard. They were both role models and heroes of mine growing up.”
Doane’s grandfather had served in World War II as a tail gunner. This was a dangerous role due to the danger involved with the job and the chances of dying everytime on a mission were a grave reality.
Doane’s uncle had served in the Korean War. Describing the Korean War as the forgotten war, Doane opened up about how his uncle had never shared much detail regarding his participation. It was always a subject that was kept private.
Both his grandpa and uncle had shared several stories about their experiences fighting, and their memories of the war. However Doane notes that he found they were often reluctant to share, due to pain and memories surrounding the war.
Doane describes Veterans Day as a big day for him saying, “I would always call my grandpa and uncle on Veterans Day to tell them that I appreciated their service for our country and to say that I loved them.”
He notes that some of his favorite memories with them were the moments that he got to spend quality time with them. Spending time together and enjoying each other’s company were his favorite memories of his family.
Doane has many photos and objects to remember his family by, he possesses a little wooden carved pig as a memory of his uncle who had a love for pigs. For his grandpa, he hopes to inherit his grandpa’s purple heart, which is currently in the possession of his father.
Overall, Doane is very proud of his grandfather and uncle for serving in the war and making sacrifices for our country.
We would like to commemorate all Veteran, past and present, for voluntarily serving our country with honor and pride, for that we would like to say thank you.
