NHD Team Recounts Washington Trip
June 19, 2017 at 5:50 p.m.
By David [email protected]
Keller Bailey, Jason Benyousky, Ryun Hoffert and Geoffrey Hochstetler won the “Outstanding Indiana Award” and the Captain Ken Coskey Naval History special prize of $1,000 for their junior group performance titled “The Many Stands of Pearl Harbor” at National History Day competition.
As part of their NHD project, the team is making an effort to get WWII Navy veteran Joe George a posthumous Navy Cross or Medal of Honor. George saved the lives of seven men when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. He was never awarded a medal for his actions because he defied orders to abandon them.
NHD offers year-long academic programs that engage more than a half-million middle and high school students around the world annually in conducting research on historical topics of interest. The research-based projects are entered into contests at the local and affiliate levels, where the top projects advance to the national contest at the University of Maryland at College Park.
The boys attended the national competition June 9-11, then presented their project June 12. Keller said there were nine teams competing per room and there were 10 to 12 rooms in the junior division.
“Whoever gets first in that room moves on. California got first in our room. We got second or third,” Keller said.
He said they gave their “best performance ever.” Benyousky agreed, saying they might have had only one “trip-up.” Ryun said the night before their performance, they had to fix their maps that were falling apart.
Between their presentation Monday and the awards ceremony Thursday, the team got to meet with Indiana U.S. Rep. Jim Banks and Sen. Todd Young.
They skipped the awards ceremony on Thursday so they could visit Vice President Mike Pence’s office and give a presentation to his staff and three Naval officers.
Ryun said, “We went to the Hoosier Huddle which is where all the Hoosiers talk with Senator Todd Young. He announced to us that he read a speech (about us into the Congressional Record) and gave us each copies of it. We got a couple of photos with him, too.”
Keller said, “The way he actually did that was by talking about us in the well of the Senate, which means he just talked about us during a Senate meeting. And that’s always written down and put in the history books.”
WCS Superintendent Dr. David Hoffert said that they tried to keep Young’s presentation to the boys a secret from them until Young made it. Ryun had reached out to Young’s office and Jason had reached out to U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly’s office regarding George.
“Sen. Young’s office was just so impressed by the boys and what they were doing that they wanted to do something extra special for them. Not just meet them, not just get an understanding of the story. They wanted to put something in the official record of how important the project they were doing truly was, and the historical significance, and also the piece of trying to enrich someone else’s life ... that they asked for specifics on the project ahead of time so they could make that statement,” Dr. Hoffert explained, adding that Young’s office wanted it to be a surprise for the boys.
The boys said they were “very surprised” with their work being written into the Congressional Record.
Ryun said they toured the Capitol building on the same day that Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise and others were shot. “We got to see the chaplain pray for them. And we got to see both the Majority and Minority leaders speak about it,” he said.
Keller said they briefly met with Banks at his office.
The boys toured the Russell Senate Office Building and the Capitol buildings.
Benyousky said, “I thought that it was kind of cool that ... with everyone we met, they all gave us tours of the buildings that they worked in.”
On Thursday, they went to Pence’s office and met with his assistants, who also gave the group a tour. Pence was in Indiana that day, but the boys gave his staff and Naval officers their presentation without their props.
“After we did the presentation, they thought it was great. They loved it,” Keller said.
Pence’s director of external affairs, Lani Czarniecki, an Anderson, resident who has Hawaiian ancestory, told the boys how his mother watched the bombing of Pearl Harbor from a mountaintop.
Mandy Bailey, Keller’s mother, said the three Naval officers who saw the team’s presentation in Pence’s office had served time at Pearl Harbor during their careers.
Pence’s office is the old Navy Secretary’s office in the Dwight D. Eisenhower building, Keller said. “He has five offices, but that’s his favorite. Six if you count the smaller one in the White House,” he said.
They got to see where the Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution used to be stored but is now a library. They visited the Indian treaty room and other offices.
Benyousky said, “We got to see – Cordell Hull, who was the old Secretary of State during the actual attack on Pearl Harbor during World War II – we got to see his office, and that’s actually where we found out we got a $1,000 award. So we split it evenly.”
As for how he felt about everything, Hochstetler said he was happy “just knowing that (we’re) helping Joe George get a medal and excited we were in the archives. I’m most excited that we won $1,000”
Hochstetler played the role of George in their performance.
As to how close the team is to getting George a medal, Benyousky said they’ve made a lot of progress but aren’t sure how close they are. Keller said, “We’re probably an eighth to a fourth of the way done.” Ryun said the senators and congressman still have to check George’s background.
“I think that Joe George really does deserve this medal or recognition because he saved seven lives under war conditions and others who have received the medal have saved like two lives under non-war conditions and disobeyed their captain’s orders. And that’s the Navy’s excuse for not giving Joe George a medal – he disobeyed his captain’s orders. Well, some other guys have done that and they’ve gotten a medal as well and saved less lives under non-war conditions, so Joe George is a bit more deserving, I think,” Keller said.
For their project, the boys read Pearl Harbor survivor Don Stratton’s book “All the Gallant Men,” did research, and talked to and got to know Pearl Harbor survivor Ray Emory. Ryun and his father traveled to Pearl Harbor for its 75th anniversary commemoration ceremony last year where they also met up with Emory.
Dr. Hoffert said, “I think the thing that I was most proud of in their presentation was the historical research that they did. You could tell that the judges perked up right away because they asked the boys immediately about their conversations, about getting to understand the history from the people that were there. They looked at the bibliography and the works cited pages that (they did) and were very astounded by the depth of research.”
Team sponsor Richard Rooker said, “One of the best aspects of National History Day is that students change what their project ends up being about. In this case, the boys started off expecting to tell the basic story of Pearl Harbor that everyone knows. Then their research introduces them to amazing people like Joe George and Ray Emory and leads them in entirely unexpected directions such as pursuing a medal for a deceased and unknown hero like Joe George or learning about how a Pearl Harbor survivor like Ray Emory has dedicated his life to identifying the unknown dead from the attack."
Keller Bailey, Jason Benyousky, Ryun Hoffert and Geoffrey Hochstetler won the “Outstanding Indiana Award” and the Captain Ken Coskey Naval History special prize of $1,000 for their junior group performance titled “The Many Stands of Pearl Harbor” at National History Day competition.
As part of their NHD project, the team is making an effort to get WWII Navy veteran Joe George a posthumous Navy Cross or Medal of Honor. George saved the lives of seven men when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. He was never awarded a medal for his actions because he defied orders to abandon them.
NHD offers year-long academic programs that engage more than a half-million middle and high school students around the world annually in conducting research on historical topics of interest. The research-based projects are entered into contests at the local and affiliate levels, where the top projects advance to the national contest at the University of Maryland at College Park.
The boys attended the national competition June 9-11, then presented their project June 12. Keller said there were nine teams competing per room and there were 10 to 12 rooms in the junior division.
“Whoever gets first in that room moves on. California got first in our room. We got second or third,” Keller said.
He said they gave their “best performance ever.” Benyousky agreed, saying they might have had only one “trip-up.” Ryun said the night before their performance, they had to fix their maps that were falling apart.
Between their presentation Monday and the awards ceremony Thursday, the team got to meet with Indiana U.S. Rep. Jim Banks and Sen. Todd Young.
They skipped the awards ceremony on Thursday so they could visit Vice President Mike Pence’s office and give a presentation to his staff and three Naval officers.
Ryun said, “We went to the Hoosier Huddle which is where all the Hoosiers talk with Senator Todd Young. He announced to us that he read a speech (about us into the Congressional Record) and gave us each copies of it. We got a couple of photos with him, too.”
Keller said, “The way he actually did that was by talking about us in the well of the Senate, which means he just talked about us during a Senate meeting. And that’s always written down and put in the history books.”
WCS Superintendent Dr. David Hoffert said that they tried to keep Young’s presentation to the boys a secret from them until Young made it. Ryun had reached out to Young’s office and Jason had reached out to U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly’s office regarding George.
“Sen. Young’s office was just so impressed by the boys and what they were doing that they wanted to do something extra special for them. Not just meet them, not just get an understanding of the story. They wanted to put something in the official record of how important the project they were doing truly was, and the historical significance, and also the piece of trying to enrich someone else’s life ... that they asked for specifics on the project ahead of time so they could make that statement,” Dr. Hoffert explained, adding that Young’s office wanted it to be a surprise for the boys.
The boys said they were “very surprised” with their work being written into the Congressional Record.
Ryun said they toured the Capitol building on the same day that Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise and others were shot. “We got to see the chaplain pray for them. And we got to see both the Majority and Minority leaders speak about it,” he said.
Keller said they briefly met with Banks at his office.
The boys toured the Russell Senate Office Building and the Capitol buildings.
Benyousky said, “I thought that it was kind of cool that ... with everyone we met, they all gave us tours of the buildings that they worked in.”
On Thursday, they went to Pence’s office and met with his assistants, who also gave the group a tour. Pence was in Indiana that day, but the boys gave his staff and Naval officers their presentation without their props.
“After we did the presentation, they thought it was great. They loved it,” Keller said.
Pence’s director of external affairs, Lani Czarniecki, an Anderson, resident who has Hawaiian ancestory, told the boys how his mother watched the bombing of Pearl Harbor from a mountaintop.
Mandy Bailey, Keller’s mother, said the three Naval officers who saw the team’s presentation in Pence’s office had served time at Pearl Harbor during their careers.
Pence’s office is the old Navy Secretary’s office in the Dwight D. Eisenhower building, Keller said. “He has five offices, but that’s his favorite. Six if you count the smaller one in the White House,” he said.
They got to see where the Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution used to be stored but is now a library. They visited the Indian treaty room and other offices.
Benyousky said, “We got to see – Cordell Hull, who was the old Secretary of State during the actual attack on Pearl Harbor during World War II – we got to see his office, and that’s actually where we found out we got a $1,000 award. So we split it evenly.”
As for how he felt about everything, Hochstetler said he was happy “just knowing that (we’re) helping Joe George get a medal and excited we were in the archives. I’m most excited that we won $1,000”
Hochstetler played the role of George in their performance.
As to how close the team is to getting George a medal, Benyousky said they’ve made a lot of progress but aren’t sure how close they are. Keller said, “We’re probably an eighth to a fourth of the way done.” Ryun said the senators and congressman still have to check George’s background.
“I think that Joe George really does deserve this medal or recognition because he saved seven lives under war conditions and others who have received the medal have saved like two lives under non-war conditions and disobeyed their captain’s orders. And that’s the Navy’s excuse for not giving Joe George a medal – he disobeyed his captain’s orders. Well, some other guys have done that and they’ve gotten a medal as well and saved less lives under non-war conditions, so Joe George is a bit more deserving, I think,” Keller said.
For their project, the boys read Pearl Harbor survivor Don Stratton’s book “All the Gallant Men,” did research, and talked to and got to know Pearl Harbor survivor Ray Emory. Ryun and his father traveled to Pearl Harbor for its 75th anniversary commemoration ceremony last year where they also met up with Emory.
Dr. Hoffert said, “I think the thing that I was most proud of in their presentation was the historical research that they did. You could tell that the judges perked up right away because they asked the boys immediately about their conversations, about getting to understand the history from the people that were there. They looked at the bibliography and the works cited pages that (they did) and were very astounded by the depth of research.”
Team sponsor Richard Rooker said, “One of the best aspects of National History Day is that students change what their project ends up being about. In this case, the boys started off expecting to tell the basic story of Pearl Harbor that everyone knows. Then their research introduces them to amazing people like Joe George and Ray Emory and leads them in entirely unexpected directions such as pursuing a medal for a deceased and unknown hero like Joe George or learning about how a Pearl Harbor survivor like Ray Emory has dedicated his life to identifying the unknown dead from the attack."
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