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For one week in November a replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial stood in Yonkers' Fleming Field honoring the 58,261 American dead from among the 2.7 million men and women in the U.S. military who served in the war zone.
Yonkers students were among the visitors, and were the ones who stood watch over those who never came home.
Read the Yonkers Student Grapevine story by Lincoln High School student Cristal Reyes, below.
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As for the young men who spent 24 hours patrolling the wall, “Seeing the sun come up, seeing all those names of men barely older than me who died,” said Neider, “I will never forget this experience.”
By Cristal Reyes
Yonkers Student Grapevine
Stan King, Leroy Benjaman Aiken, John Baco and James LM Litter. These are not the names of Lincoln students. Rather, they are four lost soldiers whose names were memorized by five outstanding JROTC students as they guarded the wall overnight from November 14 to 15. These five students were freshman Kevin Cedeño, sophomores Brandon Neider, Angel Garcia and Raul Santos, and senior Dennis Martinez (who has already enlisted in the Marines and will leave for Parris Island shortly after graduation).
Over the rainy night and into the cold morning, these young men patrolled the wall and the surrounding area as an act of honor to those fallen soldiers. With the blessing of school officials and the presence of the Yonkers Police Department, the students’ original plan was to patrol for 12 hours, from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. After lasting the original 12 hours, however, they decided to go above and beyond their duties by staying an extra 12. They did not get any sleep and only took one break to get some coffee and sandwiches. “ Soldiers on the frontlines don’t get a good sleep or much to eat, and they deal with bad weather,” Martinez pointed out. “The soldiers on that wall dealt with much more than what we had to deal with. I have no right to complain about it being hard.”
These young men were by no means forced to do this memorable act. It was the idea of Neider, but the idea was originally that of his grandfather, Korean War veteran Eliot Palias. When Neider brought the idea to MSgt Jimmy Vargas and his fellow JROTC cadets, they were all for it. “At first, I didn’t think they would let us do it,” admitted Neider, “but everyone thought it was a great idea and they helped us.”
The emotions that surround the Vietnam War Memorial Wall are very strong, and everyone who visited it could sense them. “The stories the vets shared with the classes brought tears to people’s eyes,” shared junior Sicarah Fields.
As for the young men who spent 24 hours patrolling the wall, “Seeing the sun come up, seeing all those names of men barely older than me who died,” said Neider, “I will never forget this experience.”
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