Photo By Master Sgt. Daniel Griego | Theater students from Akins High School in Austin, Texas, visit Camp Mabry,...... read more read more
AUSTIN, Texas - Theater students from Akins High School in Austin, Texas, visited Camp Mabry recently to learn about military explosive ordinance disposal and the history of the Texas National Guard. The students used the trip as a research opportunity for their upcoming stage production of Ed Monk's Booby Trap, a play focusing on a land mine incident of a deployed soldier.
“After walking through the museum,” said Tyra Williams, a senior at Akins High School, “you could really get a sense of what somebody’s life is like when they have a person in the military.”
The theater students of Austin’s Akins High School are preparing for their spring production. This year, they will perform Ed Monk’s Booby Trap, a play about an explosive ordnance disposal soldier involved in an overseas land mine incident. With the help of their teacher and resources at Camp Mabry, the headquarters for the Texas Military Department, the students enjoyed a special opportunity to learn about military life with a visit to the Austin installation, Feb. 18, 2016.
“Since they’re playing a soldier from Texas, they wanted to learn more about the military forces,” said Emily Bell, Program Specialist for STARBASE Austin.
Bell helped coordinate a day for the youths to visit the Texas Military Forces Museum, meet with experienced EOD soldiers from Texas, witness a commemorative ceremony for fallen warriors, and spend time with fifth graders at the STARBASE classrooms.
“Ultimately,” said Bell, “the goal is for them to visit with EOD soldiers so they can learn about what they do so they can fulfill their role.”
Texas Army National Guard Explosive Ordnance Disposal Officer Capt. Karl Wagner brought in colleagues from Fort Hood’s active Army 704th Ordnance Company, 79th Ordnance Battalion, to showcase equipment and techniques for the students.
“They brought down some basic team gear,” said Wagner. “Some bomb suits, things that protect and save the EOD soldiers’ lives whenever they go down. This is one of the things that really helps us out, brings to light what we can do for the community.”
The planning started with theater teacher Erica Vallejo, whose brother was a Texas Army National Guard helicopter pilot.
“My brother was killed in Iraq in 2008,” said Vallejo. “He was part of the Red River 44. He was the co-pilot and he’s on the Wall of Remembrance here.”
Red River 44, the call sign for the CH-47D Chinook carrying seven National Guardsmen that crashed during a deployment, was the worst single-day loss of life for the Texas National Guard throughout the Global War on Terror.
As a direct family member of a fallen soldier, Vallejo worked extensively with the state’s Survivor Outreach Services, led by Harvey Mikulencak. When Vallejo reached out to Mikulencak to request support for her students in preparing for their play, he linked her up with Bell at STARBASE to arrange the day’s activities.
“The Survivor Outreach kind of lead me into planning this day for them,” said Bell. “I created an itinerary of different things they could do so they could play their roles well and meet real EOD soldiers.”
For the students, this meant an up close look at military equipment, personnel, and training sites on Camp Mabry.
“Before I don’t think I ever truly understood what it was really like,” said Williams. “My uncle was in the military, but I never really understood what happens. Now that I understand what the life is like, understand the environment, I feel like I’ll really be able to feel it.
Both the show and Camp Mabry are important to Vallejo, as she shares a personal part of her past with her students.
“The military is really special in my heart and this show is actually the first show I did in college after my brother had died,” said Vallejo. “So it has very significant meaning for me and so I wanted the kids to come and learn more about the sacrifices that the military makes for us and to have them have more of an appreciation of what you all do.”
The students take back with them a new appreciation of military service and an understanding that will help them bring their stage production to life.
“I am so grateful that everyone was able to put this all together,” said Vallejo.
| Date Taken: | 02.18.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 02.26.2016 19:30 |
| Story ID: | 190305 |
| Location: | AUSTIN, TX, US |
| Web Views: | 103 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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