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Rich, who loved and lived the law, dies * News HEALTH: Avoid e-cigarettes, state official warns * containing-reason-missing News RIVERSIDE COUNTY: Missing hospital computer may contain patient data * Entertainment CORONA: Bands celebrate Showcase Theatre at M15 Friday News CARL LOVE: Teaching patriotism to fifth graders It’s not easy to explain such concepts to students, but Murrieta’s Field of Honor helps Tweet [btn_email.gif] * * [5cd2c64b-c47b-4c72-b060-47bd57b5f034.png] * Trending Riverside Yellow Pages THINGS TO DO IFRAME: http://event.pe.com/widget [a9869948-3383-4b01-9a2b-fbf303762453.png] BY CARL LOVE / CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST Published: Nov. 15, 2014 2:28 p.m. CARL LOVE: Teaching patriotism to fifth graders Print Photo Email This Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share [pin-favicon.png] Pin It More Galleries ADVERTISEMENT Bob DeCubellis talks to fifth graders in front of one of the memorials during a field trip to the Murrieta Field of Honor. Bob DeCubellis talks to fifth graders in front of one of the memorials during a field trip to the Murrieta Field of Honor. CARL LOVE , COURTESY PHOTO Related article » Getting 10-year-olds to understand grownup matters such as service, patriotism and the ultimate sacrifice are not easy. Which explains the goal of the annual fifth-grade field trips to the Murrieta Field of Honor. I’m a fifth-grade teacher at Rail Ranch Elementary. I know my students will find things kids think are cool, such as the one who noted that a fallen soldier shared her first name. And in the place dedicated to local heroes, people from our area who’ve died in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, a number of kids talk excitedly about finding someone who died the day they were born. Life and death, the cycle of cycles. Amid all this innocence is the wisdom of the people who put on the annual program that attracted more than 1,600 students last week. I had my kids later write about the experience – it’s the price you pay when your teacher is a writer -- and a number of them mentioned how much they liked 88-year-old Charlie Cram, who served in World War II. Fifth grader Halina Klaput talked about the impact Cram had on her, the tears that came as she thought of three people she knows of who served in the war. And now to meet somebody who was there, too – on a field trip of all things. “When I calmed myself down, I gave Charlie a hug which made me feel a lot better and he is my favorite person there, he always will be,” Halina wrote. Vietnam veteran Bob DeCubellis told the fifth graders freedom isn’t free, that it takes the kind of service symbolized by the sea of flags on display here to keep our country safe. He challenged the kids to take up the mantle if our country is to remain free. “You can’t do that if you don’t study hard and pay attention,” he said. The teacher part of me loves this guy. Kids being kids, not all were inspired by the moment. One student wrote the trip was boring because we walked so much. Another felt useless because almost everybody else seemed to have family members who served. Kids do take things personally. Others could see the reason for the event. “Everybody was having fun, talking to their friends,” noted Cassie Cadena, “but inside, everybody felt sad about all the men and women that fought for our freedom.” Of the many kids who noted that a fallen hero passed on their birthday, Paige Casas said: “I think that this means we celebrate our birthdays on the day that a service member died for us.” Walking through the section dedicated to our local heroes can be numbing. You take note of the long list of people from Riverside, Hemet, San Jacinto, Cathedral City, San Bernardino, Rancho Cucamonga, Menifee, Temecula, Murrieta and too many other places. Nathan Buechler told his friends, “That’s kind of sad, how many people died from Murrieta.” In the end, as the school buses pulled out of the dirt parking lot and headed down the street, we were left with the image of a remarkable 2,014 flags standing regally in the distance. “It looked like a long rainbow of red, white, and blue,” wrote Halina. A rainbow of service, patriotism and the ultimate sacrifice, something these kids now appreciate so much more. Contact the writer: carllove4@yahoo.com More from Carl Love + CARL LOVE: Community supporter, Lorrie Powell, will be missed Powell, who was 56, was one of those people who dedicated her life to others. + Snow was beautiful and different, but not all fun and games Yes, it was beautiful; yes, it was different; but it also brought with it some problems. + CARL LOVE: Catching up on Temecula Flipping channels one day leads to a visit with the public access channel that is all things Temecula. 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