From the history textbooks to real life, Rancho Remembers is a unique opportunity for students at RCHS to learn about the different hardships and sacrifices that our veterans made daily to ensure our country’s safety and freedom. On Thursday, April 24, Rancho Cucamonga High School hosted its annual event, Rancho Remembers for the 19th year in a row. Taking place from first through third period inside the RCHS gymnasium, students sat and chatted with veterans from various wars or different branches of our military. 

To participate in the event, students were instructed to pay attention to the vets, listen to their stories, and show respect by asking appropriate questions. Students were also instructed to dress properly. 

Students who attended Rancho Remembers described their favorite moments of the event, including hearing the backstories of the different veterans.

“My favorite part about the event, basic, but it’s talking to the veterans,” senior John Atienza said. “There’s this one guy, his name’s Peter, he’s so funny, but I think the best part is talking to them and hearing their stories, especially when they have a really good sense of humor. I also like it once they’re done talking about their experiences, they talk about their life in general, like their hobbies and stuff. So my favorite part is just getting to know these people on a personal level.”

Junior Analisa Lunde also gave insight into her favorite moments from the occasion. 

“My favorite part about the event was watching all of the different veterans stand up for the different military branches, and I enjoyed that because they just seemed so stoic, just standing up for their different branches and remembering their past experiences,” Lunde said. 

This event is taken very seriously by the school staff and the students alike. Though different for everyone, Rancho Remembers impacts some students with a sense of gratefulness. 

“Rancho Remembers impacts me because it allows me to better understand history from a one-on-one perspective rather than through a class, and I feel like it really just lightens me and makes me very grateful for what I have,” Atienza said. “Also, it’s very eye opening being able to talk to the veterans, which I feel like that impacts me in a lot of ways because it shows how I care but also it’s important to learn from history and it’s important to treat your veterans with respect because they had to go through a lot of horrors that we will never have to go through thanks to them.”

Lunde also describes her sense of gratitude towards the veterans. 

“It impacts me because it makes me realize that history is a part of the people around me and in my community,” Lunde said. “It also makes me feel grateful for the sacrifices that other people did for me and for the safety of everyone here.”

While Rancho Remembers is highly anticipated by many students on campus as an engaging event to attend, it also serves as an important history lesson that allows students to hear firsthand how the military was and how it has shaped people. 

Throughout the event, veterans shared stories about their deployment, such as challenges faced during combat, and the struggles that many of them encountered during their reinsertion into society. Many students learned that, despite putting their lives on the line for our country, veterans were treated horribly on their return home. This was particularly true for the Vietnam veterans.

“From attending Rancho Remembers, I learned about the struggles and the hardships that past generations had to go through and how lucky I am to have grown up in this generation, like how privileged I am, to live in a safe city, safe environment, and not have to worry about any wars currently,” Atienza said. “They lost a lot of friends, and I learned that they were mistreated when they came back, which was really sad to hear.”

This event highlighted the sacrifices and hardships made by veterans for the people and allowed them to share their experiences with the students of RCHS, leaving a lasting impact not only on the students but also on the staff who helped with the event.

“I grew up listening to stories of the past from my grandparents, from my uncles, who all served in the military, and I took that for granted,” U.S history teacher Mr. Aaron Bishop said. “When I became a teacher, I realized that students and other faculty members didn’t have the same experiences I did when I was younger. So what a great chance for me to bring an opportunity to kids and faculty members to listen to stories of the past and even some specific war stories or veterans’ stories.”

Bishop has been coordinating and helping get this event in motion ever since he came up with the idea for it 19 years ago. He’s helped host it and educate students on why our history is important. 

Bishop also shared his insight on why it’s important for RCHS students to attend Rancho Remembers.

“It is important for them to sign up because it’s a chance to talk to somebody who they regularly wouldn’t talk to or listen to,” Bishop said. “Its a chance for you to sit down with an elderly person, most of the time, or an elderly person to sit down with a teenager and just have the chance to have a conversation and see that we’re all on the same team.”

For many students, the truth about what occurs during major events of history is hidden behind textbooks, and getting this experience allowed them to obtain a piece of history they most likely wouldn’t have gotten if not for the veterans who share with students. But while Rancho Remembers taught students about important pieces of history, it also taught them different life skills as well.

“It’s teaching you organizational skills, collaboration skills, [and] working with different organizations, to put on an event that is recognized by the school,” RCHS Principal Azande Aikens said. “But then you also have the students who are participating or interviewing the veterans; so a lot of soft skills, but also interview skills [and] some critical thinking skills.” 

While this event impacted students by teaching them many lessons, it also impacted veterans greatly in more ways than one.

“I’ve had veterans come up to me and share how much they enjoyed the event, I’ve had them where they cried, and they felt really appreciated and had a sense of pride,” Aikens said. “If you look historically at some of the veterans that came back from the Vietnam War, the reception they received was not like the reception that we give our troops and our veterans coming back down. We have a couple staff members who participated, and just an overwhelming appreciation that the students showed them, and the sense of pride of having someone here who is a veteran of a war or that was in the military, I think it’s important that we recognize those people and these veterans; they truly appreciate it; they appreciate the event.”