In "My Mother Wears Combat Boots," a young girl awaits her mother's return from the war in Iraq.This new book, along with "Welcome Home Grandpa," are the first in a series of eight that aims to introduce children to the stories of soldiers in war, according to the American Veterans Institute, a nonprofit advocacy organization for Vietnam and other veterans based in Tipp City, Ohio.They are stories that co-author Tara Dixon-Engle said "will have kids saying 'that's me, (they're) just like me'."Characters in the books are of different ethnic backgrounds and genders.Retired Air Force Col. Mike Jackson and Dixon-Engel, co-founders of the American Veterans Institute, said they want children to know about the history and heroes of war."We (wanted) a way to introduce students to the content and sacrifice of America's vets," Jackson said.They created the series "Embracing Freedom" which comes with lesson plans for kindergarten through sixth grade and stories of veterans of the country's major wars.Cindy Hauler, a reading specialist for children ages eight to 12 in Ohio, said the series instills traditional American values and works well in her classroom."It has readability and stories that capture values," Hauler said.Jackson said they want to teach children about leadership."And (for young people to) believe that they, too, can make history," Dixon-Engel added.For high school students, Dixon-Engel said they are working on DVDs and CD-ROM lessons with film clips of the Vietnam and World Wars."We do not ever plan to charge schools for the materials," Dixon-Engle said. Instead, they are working on having them available for parents to purchase.The book series has been received well by both teachers and students alike, according to Dixon-Engle and Jackson, with schools lining up to have the both of them visit and speak at assemblies.When asked if the series is too pro-war, Dixon-Engle, a former journalist, marketer and fine arts teacher, was quick to reject the notion."The purpose of this program is not to recruit future GIs. In many ways, our goals are quite the opposite. We believe that, by helping young people understand and embrace American history and the role of the American military, they will move into tomorrow's leadership roles with the historical perspective to prevent future wars, instead of starting them," she said.The Embracing Freedom series is just one of the projects Dixon-Engle and Jackson have collaborated on to shed light on often-ignored aspects of American history."Together we wrote the book 'Naked in Da Nang', which has been described as 'The Wonder Years' goes to war', Jackson said.Both also created "Operation Welcome Home," an initiative to give Vietnam war veterans a "welcoming they deserve but did not receive when they returned (from war)," Jackson said.Currently being piloted in classrooms in Ohio and Indiana, the series is available to teachers through the group's website, www.americanveteransinstitute.org.(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)
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