During Catholic Schools’ week, Elder held a special Mass to remember the eleven graduates who died in the Vietnam War. It was such a kind gesture to the families of the deceased and will surely be remembered for the rest of their lives. After the Mass, Dan Hendy, Hank Mueller, and Mike Honold spoke about their experiences with the deceased and then the shadow boxes were presented. The shadow boxes where introduced with a ceremonial roll call, involving the Elder Honor Guard. The shadow boxes represented each of the fallen soldiers and one extra one for Elder’s 12thman, which stands for anyone who died from the affects agent orange. Ed Zieverink made them by hand. They now stand in the hallway leading to the freshman wing. The only living parents of the eleven guys are Jim and Norene Caruso. David Caruso was their son who died in South Vietnam. They described the Mass as “Beautiful, a very nice gesture by Elder.” They also attend the memorial Mass every year. Hank Mueller was blinded during the war and gave an inspiring speech. Linda Kleem told me afterward that Hank is “the most amazing human being.” Hank made the trip from Ocala, Florida to be here for his classmates. Hank still loves Elder just as much as he did when he was eighteen. Down in Florida he tunes to Sacred Heart Radio, so he can listen to every Elder football game. Everyone involved was so helpful to give The Quill information about the men who died and the ones who survived. This memorial Mass will be remembered throughout Elder for a very long time and every student should take a second to realize the importance of the Mass. The Mass was special to the families in attendance and it was even more important that the Elder student body was involved.