Nashua educator’s research published on national website for teachers

Suzan Turner completes National History Day’s ‘Understanding Sacrifice’ program

Press Staff Report

A Nashua-Plainfield educator’s research of a fallen World War II hero’s life and military service has been published on an award-winning website that is used by teachers across the United States.

In July, Suzan Turner traveled to France and Luxembourg to research Pfc. Harvey E. Wilson, Jr. (1921-1945) of Nashua as part of the Understanding Sacrifice program created by National History Day and sponsored by the American Battle Monuments Commission.

Turner is N-P School’s talented and gifted coordinator, instructional coach and National History Day advisor.

She had been involved in researching WWII fallen Americans before.

In 2016, she helped one of her students, Caleb Lines, prepare a eulogy for a fallen World War II soldier, and in 2018, she did her own eulogy for a World War I soldier.

As powerful as those experiences were, this one was different.

“I’m not saying the first two didn’t have meaning,” Turner said, “but Caleb had done the first one and last year I got into the program so late I didn’t really have time to do research on my soldier until after I came home from Europe.

“With Gene, I had that time. I was able to talk to his family and really learn about him. … I felt a connection, I felt like I really knew Gene.”

After finishing her research, Turner created a profile, eulogy and lesson plans, all of which are now available on ABMCEducation.org.

“This partnership with the American Battle Monuments Commission allowed us to take extraordinary educators to several of the hallowed battlefields and memorials of Europe,” said National History Day Executive Director Cathy Gorn said.

“Their unique experiences will now help teachers around the world bring history to life with the materials they added to ABMCeducation.org,” Gorn said.

Much of Pfc. Wilson’s story can be found in old Army records, but Turner is a historian, and values personal accounts.

She found them in people like Larry Hicok and Audrey Lechtenberg, Wilson’s nephew and niece who still live near Nashua.

Lechtenberg showed Turner letters written by family members to Gene that were returned after he was killed.

“It’s one of those things that really hit me,” Turner said. “To see those letters, to see those envelopes marked ‘Deceased, Return to Sender’ takes your breath away.

“You realize what was lost. You understand how hard it had to be for parents, siblings, spouses when they found out their son, their brother, their husband wasn’t coming home.”

State Historical Society of Iowa Administrator Susan Kloewer said, “As the state agency that oversees the National History Day program in Iowa, we are extremely proud of Suzan Turner for her dedication and commitment to making sure the memory of our fallen heroes are remembered and shared forever.”

The Understanding Sacrifice program is a year-long professional development project that focuses on fallen heroes of World War II who are buried or memorialized at ABMC cemeteries in Europe.

Designed to reinvigorate the study of World War II in American classrooms, lesson plans are multi-disciplinary and use primary and secondary sources, videos, and hands-on activities to show students the past to gain an understanding of the cost paid by Americans during the war.

Each lesson plan is based on scholarship and integrated with Common Core standards.

Since 1994, the National History Day in Iowa program has been coordinated by the State Historical Society of Iowa, a division of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs.

The year-long academic program encourages middle- and high-school students to conduct original research on historical topics. Students enter their projects at local and state contests, with top students advancing to the National Contest at the University of Maryland at College Park.

Nashua-Plainfield students, under Turner’s guidance, have been consistent top performers at the state and national levels for the National History Day program.

— Parts of this story are reprinted from a story published by the Press in July, by New Hampton Tribune Editor Bob Fenske.