Veterans are Focus of Junior Fellows Project

Benji Blitz ’28 delivered his Junior Fellows Presentation about US Veterans to the Middle School. He has a longtime interest in military history and is also a collector. He brought and displayed some helmets from his collection to the crowd assembled for his talk. 

Benji spent months interviewing veterans with a connection to US and told the personal stories of these veterans, sharing the lessons they, and he learned in the process. Among his subjects were Mr. Lee Chilcote ’60, a veteran of the Vietnam War; Mr. Alan Cate, History Department Chair, a graduate of West Point Academy whose first career was the military—he served in overseas combat multiple times, including the First Gulf War; and Mr. Henry Parkin ’99, who joined the U.S. Marine Corps after September 11 and deployed to Fallujah, Iraq.

The entire Middle School was rapt during his presentation, and Benji received a standing ovation. Click here to watch a recording. 

Benji's mentor for this project was Mr. Champ '85, Directory of Auxiliary Programming, who helped connect Benji with veterans and coached him on conducting interviews. Mr. Pierce, Enrichment Specialist, supported Benji as he worked on his presentation and delivery.