Military appreciation, Celina Record

Celina Junior High School display pays tribute to military personnel with local ties Lisa Ferguson, lferguson@starlocalmedia.com Feb 19, 2016 0 Heroes 1 A biography and photo of First Lt. Turney W. Leonard is featured on a bulletin board at Celina Junior High School. The Texas A&M University graduate was honored posthumously with the Congressional Medal of Honor for his heroic actions during World War II combat. Melissa Barr never met her great uncle, Army 1st Lt. Turney W. Leonard, but she said she could not be more proud of him. It is why the Celina Junior High School study lab teacher said she jumped at the opportunity earlier this month to submit a brief biography and photo of Leonard for a special bulletin board project at the school. The Heroes in Our Hearts display honors the military service of family members of the school’s students and staff members. The display, which is not open for viewing by the public, continues through the end of the month in a hall adjacent to the school’s office. It was organized by school counselor Melanie Jackson, who said the idea behind it is to “get [students] thinking and talking more than about just their little world that they’re in.” It also complements the character trait of trustworthiness that school administrators are working to instill in students. “All of these people (on the bulletin board) showed how trustworthy they are,” Jackson explained. As members of the military, “They protect and help and commit and do the right thing.” After putting out the call last month for submissions, Jackson said several school staff members were among the first to contribute information and photos about their relatives. The story of Barr’s great uncle’s service during World War II is particularly compelling, she said. A dashing Texas A&M University graduate, 23-year-old Leonard fought valiantly while commanding a platoon of mobile weapons during a fierce three-day battle in Germany in November 1944. Despite being wounded, he reorganized infantry troops whose leaders had been killed, set out on lone reconnaissance missions to gauge opposition ahead of them and was responsible for actions that resulted in the destruction of a half-dozen German tanks, among other efforts. “He kept moving on and trying to fight against the Germans,” Barr explained. When Leonard finally halted to seek treatment for his arm that had been shattered by explosives, enemy forces captures the medical station where he was being treated. “They never saw him again,” she said. Leonard was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. In 2000, his family was contacted by Texas A&M administrators explaining that Leonard’s college ring had been found more than five decades earlier by a German soldier who wished to return it to them. Barr said she and several family members, as well as the son-in-law of the German soldier, participated in a special ceremony at the university during which Leonard’s ring and Medal of Honor were donated to the school and placed in an exhibit honoring the fallen soldier. “Up until his ring was returned,” Barr said, “the family didn’t really talk about all of his accolades and how awesome he was. “So, when they brought the ring back, it was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is one of our heroes.’ We just kind of didn’t know who we had as part of our family, so it was cool to learn and be proud of him.” Similarly, Celina Junior High seventh-grader Keaton Jueurgens and his mother, school secretary Paige Juergens, never met the family members they chose to honor as part of the Heroes in Our Hearts display. The teen said he has only heard stories about his great-grandfather, Curtis Ray McKinzie, who was an Army Air Corps sergeant with the 808th Air Engineer Squadron during World War II. “You can kind of see (a resemblance) in the face,” Keaton said, gesturing toward a photo of McKinzie posted below a photo of his other great-grandfather, John W. Powell, who was also a sergeant and served in the Pacific. “To do that for your country is really inspiring,” Keaton said. “I think it’s cool when the family talks about the things that they did,” Paige Juergens said, adding that the display may help teens better understand “what service people go through today for what we have” as a nation. School nurse Melanie Starr remembers using an old military parachute that belonged to her father, Army Specialist Paul J. Zimmerbner, to build forts when she was a child. Starr said wanted to honor his military career as part of the display despite the fact that she hasn’t heard much about it. “He was pretty private,” she explained. “He saw some pretty traumatic things.” On the other hand, she knows that her father-in-law, Army Sergeant Bill Wilson, for a time was stationed in Japan. While there, Starr said, he learned enough of the language to be able later to teach his granddaughter, eighth-grader Hannah Starr, how to count in Japanese. The teen said she has talked with both of her grandfathers as well as her uncle, Army Sgt. Paul B. Zimmerbner, about their military careers. By including them on the board at school, Hannah said, “It just honors what they did and shows respect for them.”