The message at Belmont Elementary School was clear Monday: Listen to the teachers and aim for college.

Those were the words from Jeremy Staat and Wesley Barrientos who are on cross-country bike journey to Washington to lay a wreath at the Vietnam Memorial on Memorial Day.

While they are speaking about veteran issues on their trip, they are also stopping at schools.

Barrientos, an Army veteran who is a double amputee, told fourth and fifth grade students after he was injured and lost his legs he made it clear to doctors what he wanted to do. “I wanted to walk in three months and run in six months.”

Staat signs autographs.

In two weeks before the six months of therapy, he ran, he told the students. “I had a big smile. People would ask why I am so happy? ‘He lost his legs.’ I had a lot of brothers who didn’t have a chance to come back.”

Staat, a retired NFL player and Marine, told the students he was a two-sport athlete who was lucky enough to get a full scholarship to Arizona State University. “I believe in you and your teachers believe in you.”

Staat encouraged the children to get outside more and study more. “What have you accomplished in playing video games? If you’re playing video games it’s not going to get you to the next level. What you guys think is cool today is not going to be cool next year.”

The pair talk to students.

Barrientos told the children he wanted to serve in the Army after 9-11. “I just had to do something with that happening. I stayed in high school to get my diploma so I could go in the military.”

Staat told the children that it might seem tough being ordered around all day. “We’re all here to serve someone in something. Your teachers are here to help you out.”

This is the last of a two-part series documenting parts of Wesley Barrientos’s and Jeremy Staat’s visit in Roanoke Rapids.