COLLEGE PARK, MD – In honor of Veteran’s Day, National History Day® (NHD) is proud to announce the 56 teachers selected for its newest Silent Heroes® program, Silent Heroes: Untold Stories of the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard in World War II, sponsored by a grant from the Veterans Legacy Program in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. This fall, the selected teachers and more than 800 students will research over 120 Veterans who served during World War II, continued to serve their communities after returning home, and are currently buried or memorialized in a U.S. national or state Veterans cemetery.
Teachers and students will meet monthly with historian Christopher Hamner, Ph.D. of George Mason University, to study the history of the Navy and Coast Guard, World War II, and the experience of Veterans who returned home to their communities. Supported by nine NHD research mentors, the student-teacher teams will use NHD-created materials and other resources such as Ancestry Classroom, Fold3, Newspapers.com, local libraries and historical societies, and Official Military Personnel Files requested from the National Personnel Records Center to guide their research.
“We are excited to continue the work of our Silent Heroes program in partnership with the National Cemetery Administration and tell the individual legacies of those who served in the Navy and Coast Guard during World War II,” said National History Day Executive Director, Dr. Cathy Gorn. “Silent Heroes is a unique and rewarding experience for students to learn the history of World War II through the experiences of their Veterans, and in return, tell their untold stories. Not only do students gain historical thinking and research skills, but they also become connected to the personal and local histories that they have contributed to.”
The participants will research their chosen Veterans’ lives, military service, and community contributions this fall and tell the life and story of their Veterans’ service by creating and publishing a profile on the Veterans Legacy Memorial and NHD’s Silent Heroes website. See a sample Silent Hero profile here from NHD’s 2025/2026 program, focusing on Marine Corps Veterans. Students will also prepare a eulogy to honor their Veterans at a spring 2027 visit to their local national cemetery. To accompany the digital profiles, NHD will produce video eulogies for the Veterans. See a sample NHD-produced eulogy here.
The teachers selected for the 2027 Silent Heroes program represent 32 states and 50 U.S. national or state cemeteries. NHD is proud to celebrate the following participating teachers and the Veterans they selected to research (see PDF below), with three teachers from Maryland participating in this year’s Silent Heroes program:
| Teacher & School | U.S. Navy & Coast Guard Veterans | Cemetery |
| Ms. Taila McKenzie William Wirt Middle School Riverdale, MD | U.S. Navy Sonarman Third Class Dr. Milton Julian Bailey U.S. Navy Storekeeper (Disbursing) First Class Shirley Louise Vlasak Baltz | Cheltenham State Veterans Cemetery Cheltenham, MD |
| Mr. Coby Treadway St. Mary’s Ryken High School Leonardtown, MD | U.S. Navy Aviation Technician’s Mate John Strong Mackenzie U.S. Navy Personnelman (Recruiter) Esther Jeanne DerVartanian Oliver | National Memorial Cemetery at Quantico Triangle, VA |
| Mr. Benjamin Guidot Severn Run High School Severn, MD | U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard Radioman Navigation Petty Officer Second Class Armin Francis Mohr U.S. Coast Guard Seaman Apprentice Barbara Winifred Newkirk Metzger U.S. Navy Lieutenant Junior Grade Jack Thomas Parke | Garrison Forest Veterans Cemetery Owings Mills, MD |