Caroline Thibodeau and Brock Elliott were classmates in third grade at the old Yosemite School in Manteca.
On Friday, Thibodeau was the featured speaker at the school’s annual event called Brock Elliott Day.
The Manteca Unified School District’s director of health services was there to talk about the “nice young man” who indelibly affected her life during the short period of time they have known each other.
Less than 10 years after being classmates in third grade, Lance Cpl. Brock Elliott of the United States Marine Corps was tragically killed in action while serving his country in the Vietnam War. He was the first soldier in Manteca to die in that conflict during the turbulent 1960s. He was just 18 years old.
Thibodeau went on to become a medical professional, and a member of the United States Army and retiring as a lieutenant colonel.
But even though they knew each other only for a school year, Brock Elliott left a big impact on Thibodeau. As the San Francisco-born Thibodeau put it, she had a crush on the young and good looking Brock.
“I could never have guessed that I’d have a crush on someone who’d die in the war in Vietnam,” she recalled as she addressed the gathering of students, parents, faculty, invited guests and members of the extended Elliott family in the school’s inside quadrangle Friday morning.
As short as the time they were in school together, there was one thing that Thibodeau never forgot about Brock Elliott: “He was always nice to me.”
For the young Thibodeau, that meant a lot considering the circumstances in her life at that time. She had come to live with her grandparents in Manteca when she was 8 years old because her mother had been diagnosed with tuberculosis. She commented that today, “I would be considered a homeless student” under the present school system.
Remembering how a young Brock Elliott treated her with kindness, she encouraged Brock Elliott School students to “be a good friend, to respect and honor each person and the differences you all have.”
The war in Vietnam happened because people could not get along and that’s why soldiers like Brock Elliott died, she told the students.
At one point during her speech, she asked the school’s third graders to stand up to show how young she was when she and Brock Elliott were classmates.
The then challenged the students to think what effect they have on others, and to ask themselves, “What do I want to do for the world?”
She ended her message with the following words of wisdom to the young students:
“Be someone like Brock Elliott. Brock Elliott was a good, kind and nice man who served this country with honor. I remember Brock Elliott because he was nice to me.
“Remember to make positive and healthy choices in life.
“Be the change you want to see in the world.”
Others who participated in Friday’s Brock Elliott Day, an event that is held each year on the Friday that is closest to Veterans Day, were members of the Manteca Veterans of Foreign Wars who presented the colors, the Brock Elliott School Choir and Band who performed patriotic musical numbers under the direction of choir and band director Melissa Krueger Manalastas, and a presentation of a bouquet of flowers to Brock Elliott’s sister, Charlene Carroll, by her own grandson Diego Juarez, who is a third-grade student at the school.
On Friday, Thibodeau was the featured speaker at the school’s annual event called Brock Elliott Day.
The Manteca Unified School District’s director of health services was there to talk about the “nice young man” who indelibly affected her life during the short period of time they have known each other.
Less than 10 years after being classmates in third grade, Lance Cpl. Brock Elliott of the United States Marine Corps was tragically killed in action while serving his country in the Vietnam War. He was the first soldier in Manteca to die in that conflict during the turbulent 1960s. He was just 18 years old.
Thibodeau went on to become a medical professional, and a member of the United States Army and retiring as a lieutenant colonel.
But even though they knew each other only for a school year, Brock Elliott left a big impact on Thibodeau. As the San Francisco-born Thibodeau put it, she had a crush on the young and good looking Brock.
“I could never have guessed that I’d have a crush on someone who’d die in the war in Vietnam,” she recalled as she addressed the gathering of students, parents, faculty, invited guests and members of the extended Elliott family in the school’s inside quadrangle Friday morning.
As short as the time they were in school together, there was one thing that Thibodeau never forgot about Brock Elliott: “He was always nice to me.”
For the young Thibodeau, that meant a lot considering the circumstances in her life at that time. She had come to live with her grandparents in Manteca when she was 8 years old because her mother had been diagnosed with tuberculosis. She commented that today, “I would be considered a homeless student” under the present school system.
Remembering how a young Brock Elliott treated her with kindness, she encouraged Brock Elliott School students to “be a good friend, to respect and honor each person and the differences you all have.”
The war in Vietnam happened because people could not get along and that’s why soldiers like Brock Elliott died, she told the students.
At one point during her speech, she asked the school’s third graders to stand up to show how young she was when she and Brock Elliott were classmates.
The then challenged the students to think what effect they have on others, and to ask themselves, “What do I want to do for the world?”
She ended her message with the following words of wisdom to the young students:
“Be someone like Brock Elliott. Brock Elliott was a good, kind and nice man who served this country with honor. I remember Brock Elliott because he was nice to me.
“Remember to make positive and healthy choices in life.
“Be the change you want to see in the world.”
Others who participated in Friday’s Brock Elliott Day, an event that is held each year on the Friday that is closest to Veterans Day, were members of the Manteca Veterans of Foreign Wars who presented the colors, the Brock Elliott School Choir and Band who performed patriotic musical numbers under the direction of choir and band director Melissa Krueger Manalastas, and a presentation of a bouquet of flowers to Brock Elliott’s sister, Charlene Carroll, by her own grandson Diego Juarez, who is a third-grade student at the school.
