“What’s the difference between Veterans Day and Memorial Day?” the former Marine asked.

A girl raised her hand. She explained that Veterans Day honored the living, while Memorial Day remembered the dead.

Beach, senior vice commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 7447, nodded. He was one of the millions honored Wednesday, Nov. 11, during Veterans Day.

On Tuesday, Nov. 10 – the 234th birthday of the U.S. Marine Corps – Beach visited Rehoboth Elementary School to discuss the holiday with the fourth-graders.

He arrived with Past Post Cmdr. John A. Smith, Quartermaster Greg Gause and Estelle Tabasko, past president of the ladies auxiliary. Each took a different class; Beach ended up in Donald Ott’s room.

Beach told the students he served in the Marines from 1953 to 1961. He began his career in aviation supply and ended it as a firearms instructor at the U.S. Naval Academy.

Immediately, a hand shot up.

“Were you in the war?” a student asked.

“No,” Beach said, smiling. “I was not. But I was ready. I was trained and I was ready.”

Beach drilled the class on the branches of the military. One student asked what differentiated the Army from the Marines.

“They do many of the same things. But the Marines do them better,” Beach said, winking mischievously. He explained that Marines often served as an invasion force, capturing ground for the Army to secure and hold.

Several students told Beach about relatives who had served or were currently active.

One student’s grandfather served in the Korean War; he was shot through the ankle and awarded a Purple Heart.

Beach handed out bookmarks emblazoned with the national anthem, with unexpected results: The students started to sing. Ott explained that his class regularly sings – they’re unafraid and confident expressing themselves in song. After a few false starts, Beach marshaled the classroom through the first verses.

One student said her grandfather served in Vietnam.

“Tell him he did a great job,” Beach said. “We appreciate it.”