Dan Barnfield

Yesterday handed me one of those small, bright wins that make this project feel a bit like a treasure hunt. You stare at old records long enough, and when a real person suddenly steps out of the fog—well, that’s a good day.

Still riding the high from the proof-of-concept test last week. The teacher told me that during the parent–teacher interviews the following week, six parents mentioned that their kids came home buzzing about Thomas and everything they’d uncovered. That alone made my week.

I couldn’t have asked for a better class to test the first proof of concept. They were hooked the moment I pulled out the medal. As soon as I told them it had belonged to an actual veteran, and someone who had probably worn it on his chest at one point, the whole room shifted.