-Messenger photo by Peter Kaspari
Matthew Helmers, 17, left, a junior at Manson Northwest Webster High School, reads a book titled “Day of Infamy” alongside his teacher, Jenny Westerhoff. The pair has been selected to travel to Hawaii this summer to study World War II.

MANSON — A Manson Northwest Webster student and his teacher will be taking part in a rare opportunity this summer when they travel to Hawaii to study World War II.

Matthew Helmers, 17, a junior at Manson Northwest Webster High School, along with Jenny Westerhoff, the 7-12 gifted education instructor, are participating in Sacrifice for Freedom: World War II in the Pacific Student & Teacher Institute, a program conducted through National History Day.

Westerhoff said she and Helmers both participate in the National History Day program.

“They are very passionate about teaching students about heroes that have died in wars,” Westerhoff said.

Through her participation in a previous study abroad experience in Normandy, France, Westerhoff was asked to take part in the Hawaii program, which she said is a pilot program this year.

She asked Helmers, one of her students, to accompany her.

“I thought I’d never have the chance, and then they come knocking,” Helmers said. “Sometimes it just works out.”

The focus of the program is learning about a “Silent Hero,” that being a soldier who died in the war and who is memorialized or buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also known as the Punchbowl Cemetery.

Helmers said the soldier he’s studying is Pfc. Merton Raymond Riser, of Sanborn, who served in the United States Marine Corps.

“Just last year they were able to identify his body and return him home,” Helmers said.

“And he has a sister that was younger,” Westerhoff added. “We’re hoping to contact her to learn more about his life.”

Helmers will eventually have to deliver a eulogy to Riser at the Punchbowl Cemetery.

In addition to studying Riser, Helmers and Westerhoff will be participating in classroom activities.

“We’ll have classrooms,” Helmers said. “We’ll be learning a lot. We’ll travel to various memorials.”

Those include the USS Missouri Memorial, the Pacific Fleet Submarine Memorial and the Pearl Harbor Memorial.

“It’s a learning experience,” he said. “There’s a lot to go along with it.”

And Westerhoff said there’s a lot of work she and Helmers need to get done before July when they actually fly out to Hawaii.

“Starting at the beginning of February and until our trip, we are reading four to five books,” she said. “And then we have to research our Silent Hero.”

Helmers added that there’s plenty that he and Westerhoff will be studying.

“We’re not just looking at United States involvement and our individual soldiers,” he said. “We’re looking at wider ideas. What was Japan doing at the time? What was Germany doing at the time? Where were they invading? Why were they invading? It’s an all-around encompassing, beautiful program that I’m glad I get to be a part of.”

And when they return from Hawaii, they’ll be expected to give presentations. Westerhoff said they will definitely give one to students at Manson Northwest Webster, and they’ll likely speak to veterans’ groups as well, including the VFW.

Helmers, who proudly declared himself a history lover, said he’s looking forward to studying in Hawaii.

“Really, I love history,” he said. “That’s my bread and butter. I love it, and so I’m just looking forward to really getting a deeper look and a better understanding of the sacrifice that these men gave. I just want to honor Merton Raymond Riser because he’s not someone you hear about in your textbooks. But he has had just as much impact as anyone else up there, and there’s plenty of folks like that.”

But he’s also looking forward to having fun while he’s out in the sun.

“For one, the climate,” he said. “That can’t be understated. I’ll be the only guy there wearing jeans and a t-shirt on the beach. I don’t wear shorts — I’m not used to it. I’ve been to Florida and while I was in Florida, I never got to see the ocean, so I’m looking forward to that.”

Helmers and Westerhoff are one of 12 student/teacher pairs who are traveling to Hawaii as part of the program. Six of the pairs are from Hawaii, while the remaining five are from Missouri, Virginia, Illinois, Mississippi and Ohio.