North Haven High School history teacher Federico Fiondella enjoys finishing a year of textbook teaching tangibly – with the real thing.

For three consecutive years, Fiondella has produced “An Eyewitness to History,” an all-day speaker series incorporating local individuals who have experienced firsthand subjects studied by NHHS students. World War II, Vietnam War, Watergate, Sept. 11, and present-day Afghanistan and Iraq representatives all addressed students this year.

“It’s a great way to recap all the things we learned in class with accounts from eyewitnesses,” Fiondella said, “people who actually lived through the event, as opposed to simply what’s written in the textbooks.”

“In today’s world, it’s such a fast pace, that you may not get to sit down for dinner, sit down and learn from grandparents,” Fiondella continued. “You used to learn these stories from your grandparents. Now you eat and run, and some kids are missing out on these kinds of stories.”

Fiondella estimated approximately 250 students and 25 teachers attended throughout the June 4 all-day event.

American Legion Post 76 commander Dan Riccio made an opening statement. Veterans Vincent Snurkowski and Domenic Falcone, along with nurse and pharmacist’s mate Third Class Edith Gillman, spoke on World War II. Veteran William Kennedy gave a speech “The Decision to Drop the Atomic Bomb.”

Discussing the Vietnam conflict were veterans Rick Leach, John Gilchrist, Don Deloge and Charles Morrissey. Former secret service agent Roy Castagnola spoke on President Richard Nixon’s last days, Sept. 11 survivor Chad Vanacore discussed his escape from the Twin Towers, while Master Sergeant Brent Heidenis and Major Daniel Murphy portrayed modern warfare.

On September 10, 2001, Chad Vanacore stood atop the New York skyline with his girlfriend, looking out from Windows on the World, a restaurant on the 106 and 107th floors of the World Trade Center’s North Tower.

“My girlfriend asked what would happen if the towers ever went down,” Vanacore said somberly.

At the time, Vanacore was working on a trading floor on the South Tower’s 60th floor. “It was all rows of desks,” he said. “There were no cubicles.”

A day after his girlfriend’s unintended premonition, Vanacore was talking football with a co-worker in the morning. “All of a sudden a huge shockwave went through the building,” he said. “The whole trading floor goes quiet – it’s usually pretty noisy.”

“What looks like confetti is coming down the side of the building,” Vanacore continued. “I was walking to the side of the building when I looked up and the first thing I noticed was that the top of the other tower was engulfed in flames. What I thought was confetti was concrete and twisted mental.”

Vanacore ran back to his desk and convinced a group of coworkers they needed to leave. “We were probably some of the first people in the stairwells,” he said. “The stairwells had no windows.”

Loudspeaker announcements began 10 to 15 flights into Vanacore’s descent, telling South Tower denizens that it was okay to return to their floors.

Vanacore and his friends had traversed 10 more stories when the second plane struck their building.

“There was another shockwave that ripped through the building,” Vanacore said. “Only it’s twisting our building. People were tossed aside. All I could think is that the first tower collapsed and we’re going down and I’m going to be buried in rubble. Nobody is ever going to find me.”

“The guy in front of me started to say ‘we’re all going to die’,” Vanacore continued. “I put my hand on his shoulder and said ‘we’re going to get out of here’.”

Eventually, Vanacore and his companions made it outside into the plaza. “I looked into the sky and both towers were engulfed in flames,” he said.

“Rescue workers were rushing past me – off-duty cops,” Vanacore added. “They were all running into the buildings, when all I want to do is get away from them. I thought they were the bravest people.”

Vanacore walked for 20 more minutes uptown when he heard someone scream “They’re down.” He turned around and saw gray clouds and open sky where once there were towers. “I found the nearest bar and hunkered down,” he said.

“You see these movies about disasters and people are always clawing over each other to get out,” Vanacore continued. “What I saw was people helping other people: everyday citizens helping the people around them.”

A student asked about consequences. “Right after there was a palpable fear in Manhattan that anything could happen. If a terrorist could take down a building, what’s next?” Vanacore said. “But then there was counter-logic. We’re going to go about living our lives, trying not to think about these things, because then the terrorists win, and we’re living in fear.”

“For a year after I didn’t sleep a single night,” Vanacore added. “Now I feel like I have a better zest for life. I saw how fragile things can be, and so I try to live life to its fullest.”

Students asked Vietnam War veterans whether they remained in touch with their combat companions post-conflict. Christmas cards and emails were said to be commonly exchanged.

One student asked about Vietnam’s environment.

“It rained for three solid months,” one veteran said. Another, an aviator, was not as against the weather. “The skies were pretty clear,” he said. “Only problem was that aircraft don’t fly as well in hot, humid air.”

When asked about Vietnam wildlife, veterans said they saw 12-foot anacondas and rock-throwing monkeys, and heard of other soldiers who encountered tigers.

A difficulty that Vietnam veterans said they had with their service was the public reaction when they came home; they were told not to wear their uniforms, because public opinion was negative toward the war.

At hearing this, Iraq and Afghanistan veterans said how thankful they were when Vietnam’s combatants welcomed them home.

In 1974, Castagnola was working for the White House, having just recently graduated from the Secret Service academy. “I was working in the executive office building, where the president had his real office,” he told the student and teacher audience. “I was there one of my first nights, watching The Six Million Dollar Man at two a.m., when a buzzer sounded and there was a pounding at the door.”

“I opened the door and there, between two secret service agents, was the President of the United States,” Castagnola added. “He goes by without saying anything. He came in almost every night.”

Silence, of course, was a pertinent part of Castagnola’s vocation. “I saw a lot, I heard a lot, but I didn’t say a lot,” he said. “In fact I was sworn to secrecy. To this day there’s a lot I can’t talk about.”

Watergate left Castagnola considering much. “There were 18-minute gaps on those tapes,” he said. “Obviously, they had been erased, but the question is who did it and why?”

“I’ve always wondered if that’s what the president was working diligently on every night, only yards away from me,” Castagnola continued. “Only the president knows.”

Despite Nixon’s ignominious exit, Castagnola reminded his listeners that the 37th president had also opened up relations with China and begun bridging the United States and Soviet Union gulf.

“Unfortunately, he will go down as the first president to resign,” Castagnola said. “He will go down for Watergate.”

Heidenis brought American conflict into current-day focus, showing the audience a self-shot video portraying Iraq warfare, including American soldiers utilizing tanks and machine guns, night vision fighting, raids of stone buildings, and desert patrols.

But it wasn’t all offense. Heidenis’ video also contained shots of Americans training Iraq soldiers to fend for themselves, and soldiers at work rebuilding the country’s shattered buildings.