Veterans Teach BHS Students Value of Military Service

Heidi Hurley and Donald Gay, both veterans who spoke Monday at Braintree High School, have followed much different trajectories since entering the military, but presented similar lessons to students about confidence, education and pursuing their passions.

Hurley, an art teacher at BHS, and Gay, an Army recruiter who recently moved from California, joined roughly a dozen other active and retired veterans representing a range of military eras as part of the Sixth Annual Braintree High School Veterans’ Day Guest Keynote Speaker program.

Gorman Lee, K-12 Director of Social Studies, and Richard Walsh, Director of Braintree Veteran’s Services, organized the educational opportunity for social studies and history classes to encourage students to "recognize and appreciate the men and women who have proudly served in the United States Armed Forces," Lee said in an announcement.

Hurley began her talk in Colette Picard's history class by asking the students to define "veteran." One said it is someone who has served in the military and in a war zone. 

Halfway right, Hurley said. She explained that a veteran is anyone who has served in the armed forces and been honorably discharged, and she encouraged the students to thank veterans if they recognize them out shopping at the store or buying a cup of coffee. 

"They gave up so much," she said.

Hurley joined the Marines at the tail end of the Vietnam War, when women wore different uniforms than men, did not train with guns during boot camp, and were primarily tasked with support roles like secretarial work or driving trucks.  

She was an athletic and artistic 17-year-old senior at Braintree High when she decided to join. Her father, also an art teacher and veteran, and a bit of a hippie, was disappointed when she enlisted. Hurley's mother, a nurse, was happy, she said.

"Put it in your head that I'm just like you," Hurley said. "I was your average high school kid."

All told, Hurley spent nine years in the Marines, from 1975 to 1978 and then again in the early 1990s. In between a lot changed, both for Hurley personally and for the Marines. 

When Hurley re-enlisted, after earning a bachelor's degree, working for several years in advertising and then going back to school to be a teacher, she found that women wore the same gear as men, that they fired weapons and were less separated in general.

Her nickname on return was "teach." She came back as graphic illustrator, which along with public relations was her gig the first time around as well, and had experiences both scary and exciting, she told the students.

"I've done some things I never thought I would do," Hurley said. "I'm really proud to be a veteran."

Gay, a sergeant first class and 18-year veteran who grew up in Michigan, knew he wanted to be in the Army when he saw a man in uniform walking down the street. 

Then 17 years old, Gay needed his mother's permission. She gladly signed the forms and, after 13 weeks of basic training, Gay went to Germany. He did two tours in that country, where he met his wife and learned the language, and also spent time in Italy, Holland, Spain and France. 

One of the best aspects of the military is education, Gay told a group of students in the media center. Like all recruits, Gay took an aptitude test that, combined with his preference, landed him a job as a mechanic.

He later earned a bachelor's degree in automotive technology and is now working on a master's, all paid for by the Army. His eldest daughter will also have part of her college education paid for by way of some of Gay's leftover credit hours.

Gay served in Iraq twice, working on a logistics team that planned the routes that other soldiers would take through and around hot zones. He recently moved to Marshfield with his wife and three children and now, as a recruiter based in Quincy, visits high schools and colleges to speak with students about the military.

It is more difficult now than when he joined to qualify for enlistment, Gay said, but he encouraged the students to consider the military as a post-high school option. Gay said he learned skills that transfer to the private sector, and he plans to teach JROTC after he retires.

"If I could start all over, I'd do it again," he said.