Terrace Bay Public Library Digital Collections

Terrace Bay News, 25 Sep 1969, p. 14

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PTEMBER 25, 1969 TERRACE BA LOCAL VIETNAM VETERAN VISITS SCHOOL Cpl. Michael Evans-Smith, U.S.M.C., a veteran of over one year's service in South Vietnam, paid a visit to St. Martin's School recently. The former resident of Terrace Bay spent a morning and part of an afternoon speaking to the pupils of Grades 5, 5,7, and 8. The following items represent a cross- section of the thoughts and ideas raised by Michael's visit. I think the talk that Michael Evans-Smith gave on Vietnam helped us undertand more about what hap- gens to all men who fight and how this war is running. We learned a great deal about Ho Chi Minh and his death. We were. told about the traps set very care- fully by the Viet Cong. If you get caught in them they are sometimes deadly. | think we should thank Michael for sparing time to give us an outline on the war that is going on today. He says he would rather Jie than give secret information to the North Viet- namese. He has faith and the will to succeed in his job and his duty. Jane Anne Doyle (Grade 6). A day came when a young man decided to join the Army. His name is Mike Evans-Smith of Terrace Bay. What a brave young man he is. The kids and | asked him what he did before he transferred over- seas to fight in South Vietnam. He said that he was taken over to "Boot Camp". Wow! What a Place! they shave his head bald and horsed around with him. Then, after 18 months of "play", it was time to get into a more civilized position, like shooting guns and throwing grenades that could blow up at least 100 feet. But since Mike has been at war we can thank the Lord that he is not dead after having deen wounded four times by a dangerous weapon and we can pray he will not die when he goes back to fight. Debbie Johnson (Grade 5). He returned from Vietnam with a greeting to Terrace Bay, his home towny On Monday, September 15, he visited our school with a story to tell and this is how a grade seven pupil explains it. He walked into the classroom and bodies responded by saying, "Good morning". The class stared at first, but after, hands shot up. Question after ques- tion was answered. Michael explained that his job was to seek the enemy and, if the enemy was found, he would report back to headquarters and tell his chief adviser the enemy's morale, activites and He explained many more things | had neve When he left, weapons. known before. | knew at least a bit PAGE 19 Gerard Pineault (Grade rar Ae | think that Corporal Michael Evans-Smith is a very intelligent and brave young man. He was kind en= ~ ough to devote his time, almost his life, to the war in Vietnam. It was also very thoughtful of him to visit out class to discuss the cruel and destructive- : war. There is no need for this kind of war. Weare © all taking steps into the future, before we know it . a a third World War will have been started. z : Carla Calder (Grade 8) To me he seemed brave and strong. | was glad to hear that there was one person, at-least in Terrace a Bay who was willing to help people in trouble. Most -- people his age spend most of their time out of their own enjoyment. When Michael came into our class~ room, | felt afraid to ask him questions about seeing © : his buddies get killed because | thought his eyes might get watery and he'd get a lump in his throat, but he didn't. Inside me | feel proud to live ina . town that has a man like Michael Evans-Smith ready to give up his life. Wouldn't you? Ruth Falzetta (Grade 7) | never really thought about the war in Vietnam until this past week when Michael Evans-Smith --_ to visit our class and since then I've begun to think -- about the. war. So many people have been killed | for nothing. Just because of some who want to 'take | over a country. The United States Government is supposed to pull out about 40,000 troops from a Vietnam by the end of November. Why? Because -- the public wants the men back home where it's "safe and sound". Back home where they canbe killed by rioters! But what of the South Vietnamese? Can they really handle the Viet Cong? Can they win without the Americans? Of course not. The American Government knows this but the public want! the men back home. What the public wants, the _ ' public gets. Is this the way to run a country? Is this the way to prove to others what a strong nation the _ U.S. is? Of course it isn't but, the American Government hasn't realized this, | guess, or ' they'd stay in. "qi Rosalie Kettle (Grade 8). Last week a man came into our classroom on leave from Vietnam: His name is Michael Evans-Smith We had written a letter to Michael last year when our class was in Grade 5. This year he told us all . about Vietnam: about guerrilla warfare such as the Malaysian Whip, about his M-60 machine gun, about ambushes, and airplanes - cont'd page 19 . ; NEWS about Vietnam.

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