Bronxville Teacher Brings History to Life Through National Recognition

Bronxville High School social studies teacher Patrick Henderson has been selected as one of 55 educators nationwide to participate in National History Day’s prestigious Researching Silent Heroes program. The unique opportunity allows him to research and honor a fallen service member, deepening his own understanding of history while inspiring students to see the past through a more meaningful lens. 

As a dedicated mentor for students in the annual National History Day competition, Henderson saw the program as a chance to strengthen his own research skills and bring fresh insights into his classroom. In addition, both of his grandfathers served in the Army during the Korean War, which added a personal motivation for his work.  

“This will have a lasting impact on me as a teacher,” Henderson said. “It is easy for history to become impersonal, especially for students. They have other classes and worries, and sometimes social studies becomes memorization of names, facts and dates. But history is always about people and the small impacts they all make.” 

For his project, Henderson chose to research U.S. Army Corporal Richard Legrand Henderson, an 18-year-old soldier killed in North Korea. While they share a last name, Henderson has not found a family connection — yet he feels deeply drawn to Richard’s story. The young soldier never had the chance to graduate high school, marry or start a family. Through determined research, Henderson was able to track down Richard’s last surviving sibling, Shirley, who described her brother as kind, energetic, and a basketball lover who had struggled in school but sought purpose in the Army. 

“If you study the Korean War, someone like Richard L. Henderson would never come up in a class, but he was a real person who died in a real war,” Henderson said. “His parents and siblings missed him for the rest of their lives, and at just 18 his life was cut so short. Making history personal is so valuable to studying it.” 

As part of the Researching Silent Heroes program, Henderson has been collaborating monthly with a historian and a research specialist to place his Silent Hero within the broader historical context and learn strategies to research his life. When he completes his research in April, he will write a profile for NHD’s Silent Heroes website for publication later this year. His work will be shared with the American Battle Monuments Commission to support future educational materials.

The program, conducted in partnership with the American Battle Monuments Commission, focuses on service members who lost their lives in World War I, World War II, the Korean War or the Vietnam War. Educators like Henderson — representing 32 states and two Department of Defense schools overseas — are working to bring these Silent Heroes' stories to light, ensuring their sacrifices are remembered and honored.