News : Seventh graders honor area veterans by making military shadow boxes

Shelby McDonald holds the shadow box she made for her grandfather, Raymond.

Cassie McClain created this shadow box in honor of U.S military veterans for a 7th grade project.

Some of Mrs. Struve's students pose with the projects honoring veterans.

A poem by Raymond Roger McDonald is part of Shelby McDonald's project.

Shelby McDonald included several photos of her grandfather in her military shadow box.

Army Veteran Raymond Roger McDonald will soon have a beautiful white shadow box to contain his favorite U.S. Army memories from a half-century ago, when was serving his country while stationed in Greenland.

The box contains a photo of the dog he paid for with cigarettes in a trade with a Greenland Eskimo; a poem he wrote to his girl, Nina, anticipating their wedding; his buddies and the vehicles he used while there.

The box is a gift from his granddaughter, Vinton-Shellsburg Middle School student Shelby McDonald. She was one of the members of Mrs. Jill Struve's Social Studies class to make such memory boxes in honor of veterans.

"Sometimes the meaning of Memorial Day gets lost," said Mrs. Struve, who praised the students for their creativity in making a unique variety of colored memory keepsakes. Most students plan on giving those items to grandparents, parents, teachers or uncles who served in the military.

Shelby has heard many of her grandfather's stories, including how he named a barrack after Nina, and how he survived the -87F temperatures of the Greenland Winter.

The shadow boxes include photos, graphics, patriotic decorations and photos of the veterans the students chose to honor. While some created general tributes, several of the students made boxes for a specific veteran. Some of the projects honor veterans who recently passed away, and will serve as memorials to them.

The students have been studying military history, and the impact of wars on different eras of American history. They have also been studying local veterans of wars from World War II through the present, and recently discussed the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.