United We Roll at Stardust Radio

This story – which is very true, by the way – is a lesson that should be taught in all schools ... from Kindergarten through College. We salute Ms Cothren and all teachers who make sure our children understand that the freedom they enjoy came at a price and that we all have a responsibility to properly receive and pass on this gift.

Back in September of 2005, on the first day of school, Martha Cothren, a social studies school teacher at Robinson High School in Little Rock, did something not to be forgotten.. On the first day of school, with the permission of the school superintendent, the principal and the building supervisor, she removed all of the desks out of her classroom.

When the first period kids entered the room they discovered that there were no desks.

'Ms. Cothren, where're our desks?'

She replied, 'You can't have a desk until you tell me how you earn the right to sit at a desk.'

They thought, 'Well, maybe it's our grades..'

'No,' she said..

'Maybe it's our behavior.'

She told them, 'No, it's not even your behavior.'

And so, they came and went, the first period, second period, third period. Still no desks in the classroom.

By early afternoon television news crews had started gathering in Ms. Cothren's classroom to report about this crazy teacher who had taken all the desks out of her room.

The final period of the day came and as the puzzled students found seats on the floor of the deskless classroom, Martha Cothren said, 'Throughout the day no one has been able to tell me just what he/she has done to earn the right to sit at the desks that are ordinarily found in this classroom. Now I am going to tell you.' At this point, Martha Cothren went over to the door of her classroom and opened it.

Twenty-seven (27) U.S. Veterans, all in uniforms, walked into that classroom, each one carrying a school desk. The Vets began placing the school desks in rows, and then they would walk over and stand alongside the wall. By the time the last soldier had set the final desk in place those kids started to understand, perhaps for the first time in their lives, just how the right to sit at those desks had been earned.

Martha said, 'You didn't earn the right to sit at these desks. These heroes did it for you. They placed the desks here for you. Now, it's up to you to sit in them. It is your responsibility to learn, to be good students, to be good citizens. They paid the price so that you could have the freedom to get an education. Don't ever forget it.'

Again, this is a true story.

Please consider passing this along so others won't forget that the freedoms we have in this great country were earned by U. S. Veterans.

United We Roll @ Stardust Radio
Tuesday, June 23rd, Show Schedule
(Repeats Wednesday, June 24th, at 6:30pm)

The volunteers from United We Roll and Stardust Radio are very proud to bring you fresh new interviews with deployed US military members who will share information about their missions, their military experiences and their beliefs as to why they do what they do and what it means to them. Although we will have four visits for you this afternoon, we will actually be talking with a total of eleven guests, so get comfy and be prepared to learn, to be inspired and to enjoy their company.

Our first visit will be with four Air Force members of the 376th Air Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Vehicle Maintenance Flight. Joining us are SrA Amir Mustafa, SrA Steven Jordan, SSgt Patrick Stroschein and SSgt Robert Forbes. These airmen are part of the vehicle maintenance team that operates a 24 hour shop where service is performed on all types of vehicles from trucks to heavy equipment. We will hear about some service problems that are typical to their location in addition to many other experiences these deployed members have to share.

Our next four guests are part of the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Headquarters Staff and bring a very interesting mix of information to us this afternoon. Capt James Lisher is a JAG or Judge Advocate General. You will hear about some of the services that Capt Lisher provides as a legal advisor for the base. SSgt Scott Richard is the Safety/OSHA officer for the base, which involves not only compliance, but also a lot of training. SrA Angel Peralta is in the Computer Support area and takes care of any software issues that come up. Our next guest with this group is the Wing Historian and you may ask why a historian would need to be on deployment. Well, Mrs Judith Taylor will be here to explain how her job involves the ongoing collection of information and how it is used.

Our third visit for today is Army Lt Michael Barr, who is deployed with the HHC 1-5 CAV in Baghdad, Iraq. Lt Barr is an Infantry officer who is currently running a JSS – a Joint Security Station - that houses US troops, an Iraqi Army Battalion and an Iraqi Police station. He has also supervised a JOC – a Joint Operations Center - that also housed several other Iraqi police, security and fire departments. Lt Barr, who comes from a family of military members, says that taking care of the soldiers in his charge and helping the Iraqi security forces to become better at their jobs makes the sacrifices of his job worthwhile.

Our final two guests, SSG Ramiro Cardenas and Capt Sheri Hiser are deployed with the 332nd Medical Operations Squadron and are currently serving at the hospital located at Joint Base Balad. SSgt Cardenas is an Emergency Technician and Capt Hiser is a Trauma/Critical Care Nurse who was previously deployed in this same area when the hospital was still housed in tents. Both work in the hospital’s Level III Trauma Care and there is no doubt as to their dedication to helping those with whom they serve. This is a great visit and you will not want to miss any of it.

As always, we are extremely honored to bring you these visits with our deployed military members. And, we are honored to have you, our listeners, join us each week.

Join us on Saturday, June 27th at 11:45am Central when we will be broadcasting live from the grounds of the 25th Annual Trek Fest in Riverside, Iowa – birthplace of Capt Kirk!
We will have a couple of deployed units on the phone lines to speak with three of the Star Trek TV Stars who will be attending the Trek Fest - Nichelle Nichols (Uhura), Walter Koenig (Chekov) & George Takei (Sulu).
So, tune in to Stardust Radio on Saturday, June 27th at 11:45am.For more information on the Trek Fest, go to http://www.trekfest.com

I am sure many or most of you are aware of the rocket attack on one of our bases this last weekend in Afghanistan where two Heroes of Freedom were killed and more people were wounded. We join the Guffey family in their prayers for Brandon’s unit – the HHC 82nd Division Headquarters – and the rest of the unit’s families at this most difficult time.

Please, folks, make the opportunity today and everyday to thank a military member and a first responder – law enforcement, firefighter or paramedic – all those who put their lives on the line and their family time on hold to protect us and our families.

Don’t forget in addition to listening to our live shows on stardustradio.com, you can go to our archive site and download tapes of our shows on MP3 format at www.stardustradio.info and you can check our blog through the United We Roll page at www.stardustradio.com .

May God Bless You All & May God Bless America!