“VIDEO: A hero in their midstPVHS graduate, U.S. Marine Ryan Beyer visits Evergreen Elementary” |
| VIDEO: A hero in their midstPVHS graduate, U.S. Marine Ryan Beyer visits Evergreen Elementary Posted: 11 Jan 2011 09:54 AM PST U.S. Marine Lcpl. Ryan Beyer picks a student to ask a question as Debbie Holsdworth, mother of Cpl. Billy Holdsworth, looks on during an assembly at Evergreen Elementary School on Jan. 4. Photo by PHIL HEIL On Jan. 4, students at Evergreen Elementary School had the opportunity to see the uniform of a real hero. Perkiomen Valley High School graduate and United States Marines Lance Cpl. Ryan Beyer visited Evergreen, proudly wearing his full military attire. Joined by Debbie Holdsworth, the mother of fellow PVHS grad and Marine Cpl. Billy Holdsworth (stationed in Okinawa, Japan, helping train Marines), Beyer spoke at an assembly and visited classrooms to talk about being a Marine and the mission in the Middle East. "You're never too young to dream," Evergreen teacher Jenny Cochran told the assembled students by way of introducing Beyer. Cochran's classes have written and sent packages to both Marines. "You're never too young to follow that dream, and work hard at your dream and someday, maybe you'll come back and talk to us again and tell us where you are." Beyer related to the children everything from his experiences in the Marine Corps to what first inspired him to serve his country. "When I was 5 or 6 years old, I remember watching TV, watching a commercial of a regular guy climbing up a mountain," Beyer said. "When he got to the top of the mountain, the camera came all around him, all of a sudden he was standing there at attention, all proud. Ever since then, I said I wanted to be a Marine and I would be a Marine someday." Beyer, who will be deployed to Afghanistan later this month, answered numerous questions from the curious students, tackling tough queries concerning how soldiers in foreign countries celebrate the holidays, his favorite machine gun and whether Marines have to do homework. "No one tells you to do [homework]," he told one class, "but you have to do it anyway. You always have to study on what your job is. I'm a machine gunner, so I always have to read up about my machine guns so I know everything about it. A teacher doesn't assign you homework, but you're always working." Evergreen Elementary has "adopted Beyer and Holdsworth. In a program Cochran began during the first Gulf War, students have written to the soldiers and sent care packages across the ocean to the Marines stationed in the Middle East. What do the Marines enjoy the most? As far as letters go, they just want to know what they're missing at home. Continued... U.S. Marine Lcpl. Ryan Beyer picks a student to ask a question as Debbie Holsdworth, mother of Cpl. Billy Holdsworth, looks on during an assembly at Evergreen Elementary School on Jan. 4. Photo by PHIL HEIL When asked by a member of the audience what makes him smile while going through care packages and letters, Beyer said he simply enjoyed seeing the faces of those who care enough to write. "Pictures … seeing the faces of people who are writing us," he said. Of course, there are also practical favorites. "A lot of times we don't get to shower at night. So Baby Wipes help clean our hands, clean our faces, it makes us feel a lot cleaner," he said. "And canned foods, Chef Boy-R-Dee ravioli." For more photos from Lcpl. Beyer's visit to Evergreen Elementary, please click here http://bit.ly/f9rGZ2 U.S. Marine Lcpl. Ryan Beyer picks a student to ask a question as Debbie Holsdworth, mother of Cpl. Billy Holdsworth, looks on during an assembly at Evergreen Elementary School on Jan. 4. Photo by PHIL HEIL On Jan. 4, students at Evergreen Elementary School had the opportunity to see the uniform of a real hero. Perkiomen Valley High School graduate and United States Marines Lance Cpl. Ryan Beyer visited Evergreen, proudly wearing his full military attire. Joined by Debbie Holdsworth, the mother of fellow PVHS grad and Marine Cpl. Billy Holdsworth (stationed in Okinawa, Japan, helping train Marines), Beyer spoke at an assembly and visited classrooms to talk about being a Marine and the mission in the Middle East. "You're never too young to dream," Evergreen teacher Jenny Cochran told the assembled students by way of introducing Beyer. Cochran's classes have written and sent packages to both Marines. "You're never too young to follow that dream, and work hard at your dream and someday, maybe you'll come back and talk to us again and tell us where you are." Beyer related to the children everything from his experiences in the Marine Corps to what first inspired him to serve his country. "When I was 5 or 6 years old, I remember watching TV, watching a commercial of a regular guy climbing up a mountain," Beyer said. "When he got to the top of the mountain, the camera came all around him, all of a sudden he was standing there at attention, all proud. Ever since then, I said I wanted to be a Marine and I would be a Marine someday." Beyer, who will be deployed to Afghanistan later this month, answered numerous questions from the curious students, tackling tough queries concerning how soldiers in foreign countries celebrate the holidays, his favorite machine gun and whether Marines have to do homework. "No one tells you to do [homework]," he told one class, "but you have to do it anyway. You always have to study on what your job is. I'm a machine gunner, so I always have to read up about my machine guns so I know everything about it. A teacher doesn't assign you homework, but you're always working." Evergreen Elementary has "adopted Beyer and Holdsworth. In a program Cochran began during the first Gulf War, students have written to the soldiers and sent care packages across the ocean to the Marines stationed in the Middle East. What do the Marines enjoy the most? As far as letters go, they just want to know what they're missing at home. "They like to read anything that's going on at home," Holdsworth said. "They like to hear about the weather, they like to hear about sports. They like to hear what you're doing. They like to hear anything about Collegeville or Schwenksville." When asked by a member of the audience what makes him smile while going through care packages and letters, Beyer said he simply enjoyed seeing the faces of those who care enough to write. "Pictures … seeing the faces of people who are writing us," he said. Of course, there are also practical favorites. "A lot of times we don't get to shower at night. So Baby Wipes help clean our hands, clean our faces, it makes us feel a lot cleaner," he said. "And canned foods, Chef Boy-R-Dee ravioli." For more photos from Lcpl. Beyer's visit to Evergreen Elementary, please click here http://bit.ly/f9rGZ2 This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
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