Photo belongs to ADM Middle School

Several students from Adel-DeSoto-Minburn Middle School completed a project in relation to National History Day.

According to Middle School Science Teacher Jonathan Markus, 12 students participated in a project titled “Silent Heroes of the Korean War.” He shares that the students researched two Korean War Veterans that are in the Iowa Veterans Cemetery in Dallas County. Markus explains that the students chose to honor Specialist First Class Henry J. Bevel Jr. and Corporal Reginald Atkins, and then they did a deep dive into their lives before, during and after the Korean War. He notes that the students had fun researching Bevel Jr. and Atkins, as it led them to an interesting revelation about Atkins.

“We found an old Drake Relays and Iowa High School Athletic Association documents that were online, showing that he was actually a state champion (in) a number of track events. And so that was really exciting to the kids to paint the picture with a little more context and a little broader. This guy was quite the athlete prior to getting drafted into the Korean War.”

Markus acknowledges that this was the first year he had students engaged in the Silent Heroes project. He says in years past, ADM students were apart of the National History Day competition which directed them to follow a specific theme to tailor their research towards, and therefore chose any historical topic to go after on their own. Markus adds with the project, the students wrote biographies on Bevel Jr. and Atkins and eulogies.