As Veterans Day grows closer, Woodgrove is gearing up for the annual festivities. The entire nation recognizes United States veterans on the 11th day of November each year. At WHS we celebrate our veterans who are also part of the school’s staff. 

Mr. Tom Clawson, English 11 teacher, served almost 50 years ago during the Vietnam War. He was a member of the US Air Force and was stationed in Louisiana as well in Vietnam. Clawson was assigned to a B-52 bomber squad, while in the squadron he was a navigator and a mission planner. He comments “Serving during the war was a very sad and emotional time for me, I was only 18 when I joined the Air Force.” 

Social Sciences teacher Mr. Douglas Dillon served in the Army Reserve for thirty years, starting in 1990. Over his time of service, he deployed four times, twice to Iraq and twice to Afghanistan. He worked as Civil Affairs Officer, this position aids the locals wherever the US Army is deployed. His main job was to minimize civilian casualties. He was also a paratrooper for 12 years. This led to some interesting experiences and some great stories, “There were days when I was teaching students at 3:00 in the afternoon and 9 hours later, at midnight I’m jumping out of an airplane with all my Army equipment.”

Woodgrove’s school nurse Ms. Stephanie Lovasz is a proud veteran of the US Navy Nurse Corps. She graduated from college with a nursing degree and after a year of practicing medicine, she joined the US Navy in 1975. She was a nurse stationed in California until 1997 and was a Lieutenant Commander by the end of her service. Lovasz primarily took care of members of all branches of the military and their families. She also rotated through almost all areas of nursing, though she primarily worked in surgical ICU. Lovasz learned many skills during her service, “You have to work and understand the philosophy of the good for all, not just you.” 

Ms. Georgina Bingaman served in the US Air Force and was stationed at Norton Air Force Base in California. While serving she worked as a Contract Administrator. She achieved the top score in her training class at Lowry Air Force Base. Her service impacted her life greatly, “Serving was the best choice I could have made. I received the best training physical, mental, and educational ever” 

Here at Woodgrove we are fortunate to have so many staff with so many diverse stories and backgrounds. This Veterans Day make sure to ask Woodgrove’s veterans about their best stories and thank them for their service.