Columbia City High School congratulates, Mrs. Kristin Rentschler, as a recipient of a prestigious learning opportunity to study the life and service of an American Veteran with National History Day and the American Battles Monuments Commission. 
"Honoring our veterans is incredibly important to me, especially ensuring the stories of those who never made it home are remembered. The men and women of our country served to defend our highest values—freedom, democracy, sacrifice for the common good, and selfless service. My goal is to preserve their stories so we never forget the American heroes who came before us, inspiring future generations with their courage and dedication," said Kristin Rentschler, Columbia City High School Service Academy Coach.
Rentschler will research silent hero, Phillip Allen Ducat.
"He served his country in the Marines and was killed during a helicopter rescue mission of wounded soldiers. It is my honor to research and write about Captain Phillip A. Ducat," Rentschler said.
Mrs. Rentschler has hosted National History Day for years and has been selected more than once for this program to research military heroes.
Congratulations, Kristin!
News release submitted
COLLEGE PARK, MD – February 5, 2025 – National History Day® (NHD) is proud to announce the 55 educators selected for its Researching Silent Heroes webinar series, in coordination with the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC). Educators selected for this cost-free learning opportunity receive hands-on training to research and create a profile for a Silent Hero®, an individual who served in the United States military. The men and women researched for this webinar series died during World War I, World War II, the Korean War, or the Vietnam War and are buried or memorialized in an American military cemetery cared for by the ABMC.
Now until March 2025, teachers meet monthly with both a historian and a research specialist to set their Silent Heroes into historical context and learn strategies to research their lives. They discuss effective research strategies and discuss how to deal with roadblocks that historical research creates, such as missing or incomplete records, alternate spellings, or reconciling memories with the historical record. When the teachers complete their research in April, they will write a profile for NHD’s Silent Heroes website for publication in late spring/summer 2025. This work will be shared with the American Battle Monuments Commission for future use in their educational materials.
“National History Day’s Researching Silent Heroes program is essential to our work to improve the teaching and learning of history,” said Cathy Gorn, Ph.D., Executive Director of National History Day. “Thanks to ABMC, teachers across the country and around the world get to dive into primary source research about the lives of service members from twentieth century conflicts. I can’t wait to read the impactful profiles the teachers will write about these fallen service members’ lives.”
The 55 teachers selected for this program represent 32 states and two Department of Defense (DoDEA) schools overseas. Their Silent Heroes are buried or memorialized at 17 ABMC Cemeteries. NHD honors the following teachers participating in this program and the Silent Heroes they selected to research:
World War I Service Members
Silent Hero | Teacher and School |
Aisne-Marne American Cemetery | |
U.S. Army Private First Class William H. Bellows | Ms. Melissa Lawson Cordova High School Rancho Cordova, California |
U.S. Army Private First Class J. A. Monroe | Ms. Hilary Hilycord Central Middle School Columbus, Indiana |
U.S. Navy Hospital Apprentice First Class Louis Baptiste Schuler | Ms. Melissa Lawson Cordova High School Rancho Cordova, California |
Brookwood American Cemetery | |
U.S. Army Behavioral Health N. 33 Rank Civilian Tula Lake Harkey | Ms. Kristen Addessi CUNY College of Staten Island Staten Island, New York |
Meuse Argonne American Cemetery | |
U.S. Army Private Curtis Crawford Bryant | Mrs. Darla Carpenter Collins Career Technical Center Chesapeake, Ohio |
U.S. Army Private William Flowers | Ms. Jessica O’Connor Alabama African American Civil Rights Heritage Sites Consortium Birmingham, Alabama |
U.S. Marine Corps Sergeant William T. MacSparran | Ms. Jessica O’Connor Alabama African American Civil Rights Heritage Sites Consortium Birmingham, Alabama |
U.S. Army Corporal John Edward Newman | Mrs. Lisa Larson Doral Academy of Northern Nevada Reno, Nevada |
Normandy American Cemetery | |
U.S. Army Air Corps First Lieutenant Quentin Roosevelt | Mrs. Rachel Lane Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Medora, North Dakota |
Oise Aisne American Cemetery | |
U.S. Army Private First Class Edward J. Bresler | Mr. Chuck Taft University School of Milwaukee Milwaukee, Wisconsin |
U.S. Army Private Ernest Kneeling, Jr. | Mrs. Shawn Lucas Neshannock Junior/Senior High School New Castle, Pennsylvania |
Somme American Cemetery | |
U.S. Army Private John Porter Griner | Mrs. Kim Guthrie Home School Gaffney, South Carolina |
Suresnes American Cemetery | |
U.S. Marine Corps Sergeant Eugene William Wear | Mrs. Shawn Lucas, Neshannock Junior/Senior High School New Castle, Pennsylvania |
World War II Service Members
Silent Hero | Teacher and School |
Ardennes American Cemetery | |
U.S. Army Air Corps Staff Sergeant Wayne C. Thulin | Ms. Megan Steahr West Burlington Junior/Senior High School West Burlington, Iowa |
Cambridge American Cemetery | |
U.S. Army Air Corps First Lieutenant Henry Edwin Salmons | Ms. Patricia Robblee Lejeune High School Camp Lejeune, North Carolina (DoDEA) |
Epinal American Cemetery | |
U.S. Army Private First Class Paul R. Krug | Mrs. Aubrey Weatherby Washington Intermediate School Dinuba, California |
U.S. Army Private First Class James Oland Rose | Mrs. Marjorie DeNeal Harrisburg High School CUSD #3 Harrisburg, Illinois |
Florence American Cemetery | |
U.S. Army Private Edwin Van Der Vaart | Ms. Ashley Barshaw Heritage Middle School San Antonio, Texas |
Honolulu Memorial | |
U.S. Army Air Corps Technical Sergeant Glenn Wallace Jones | Mrs. Julia Jane Winslow Providence Hall Junior High School Herriman, Utah |
U.S. Army Air Corps First Lieutenant Daniel Tucker Mathis, Jr. | Mrs. Nicole (Mathis) Lasko Kūlanihāko‘i High School Kihei, Hawai'i |
Lorraine American Cemetery | |
U.S. Army Private First Class Robert Bass | Jamie Holifield National History Day College Park, Maryland |
U.S. Army Sergeant First Class Harry Emanuel Buckner | Jamie Holifield National History Day College Park, Maryland |
U.S. Army Sergeant James R. West | Mrs. Jillian Elliott Southeast High School Cherokee, Kansas |
Luxembourg American Cemetery | |
U.S. Army Corporal Wilbert Geyer | Mrs. Lisa Genton Divine Mercy Academy Monroeville, Pennsylvania |
Manila American Cemetery | |
U.S. Army Private Tench Brower Aldrich | Mrs. Stefanie Spivey Heppner Junior/Senior High School Heppner, Oregon |
U.S. Army Private First Class John H. Muffley | Mrs. Amanda Castillo El Dorado High School Chandler, Arizona |
U.S. Army Private First Class Gerald C. Slonecker | Mr. Jeff Sessions Melba Junior/Senior High School Melba, Idaho |
U.S. Army Private First Class Darwin C. Zufall | Mrs. Sarah Overton Yokosuka Middle School Yokosuka, Japan (DoDEA) |
Netherlands American Cemetery | |
U.S. Army Air Corps Captain Samuel Fleming | Mrs. Lisa Genton Divine Mercy Academy Monroeville, Pennsylvania |
Normandy American Cemetery | |
U.S. Army Private Henry A. Dziura | Stefanie San Filippo Montville Township High School Montville, New Jersey |
North Africa American Cemetery | |
U.S. Army Air Corps First Lieutenant Rufus Randolph McLeod, Jr. | Mr. Marc Turner Spring Hill High School Chapin, South Carolina |
Korean War Service Members
Silent Hero | Teacher and School |
Honolulu Memorial | |
U.S. Navy Ensign Donald Edwin Adams | Mr. Theodore Frank Milwaukee Marshall High School Milwaukee, Wisconsin |
U.S. Air Force Staff Sergeant Louis Henry Bergmann | Ms. Katie Rotunda Chaska Middle School East Chaska, Minnesota |
U.S. Army Sergeant Worth Lamar Bunting | Ms. Whitney Cooper Valley Springs Middle School Arden, North Carolina |
U.S. Army Sergeant Celestino Chavez, Jr. | Mrs. Michelle Boroski Tularosa Middle School Tularosa, New Mexico |
U.S. Army Sergeant Alphonso Church | Ms. Taila McKenzie William Wirt Middle School Hyattsville, Maryland |
U.S. Air Force Airman First Class Howard L. Croshaw | Ms. Christina Jacobs Hidden Valley Middle School Bluffdale, Utah |
U.S. Army Sergeant First Class Frederick E. Fleming | Mrs. Jennifer Knopf W. T. Sampson Unit School Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba (DoDEA) |
U.S. Army Corporal Richard Legrand Henderson | Mr. Patrick Henderson Bronxville High School Bronxville, New York |
U.S. Army Corporal Amos R. Hutchins | Dr. Bruce B. Mize Pontotoc High School Pontotoc, Mississippi |
U.S. Army Sergeant Calvin Solomon Jones | Mrs. Kathleen LaRoue Tallwood High School Virginia Beach, Virginia |
U.S. Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel Walter Ernest Lischeid | Ms. Zoe Kourajian Edgewood Middle School Mounds View, Minnesota |
U.S. Army Corporal Jesse Leroy Mitchell | Mrs. Ellen Carroll Summit Christian Hybrid School Oklahoma City, Oklahoma |
U.S. Air Force Captain Alexander Beck Padilla | Ms. Charlene Cunningham Cesar Chavez High School Laveen, Arizona |
U.S. Army Corporal Harold Matthew Steele | Mrs. Erica Shannon Talladega College Talladega, Alabama |
U.S. Army Corporal Albert Alvis Vincent | Mr. Cody Lee East Buchanan High School Gower, Missouri |
Vietnam War Service Members
Silent Hero | Teacher and School |
Honolulu Memorial | |
U.S. Air Force Captain Howard Rudolph Cody | Mrs. Elizabeth Green College and Career Technical Institute Pascagoula, Mississippi |
U.S. Army Private First Class Joe Lynn DeLong | Dr. Tara Mitchell Mielnik Cumberland University Lebanon, Tennessee |