Vietnam War veteran Ron Cepek spoke to a group of Seneca Valley students Wednesday about his time during the war.

JACKSON TWP — The best way to learn about history isn’t always through textbooks and documentaries, but often from firsthand accounts from those who lived it.

That’s why Seneca Valley Senior High School teacher Jim Lucot always strives to bring military veterans to speak to his class. On Wednesday, it was Harmony resident Ron Cepek’s turn.

Cepek, who retired more than a decade ago after 23 years as a Zelienople police officer, spoke to one of Lucot’s classes about his three tours of duty during the Vietnam War.

It was a chance meeting that brought Cepek into the class.

Lucot, a military history enthusiast, saw Cepek in a vehicle at a red light on Main Street in Zelienople. Lucot recognized Cepek’s license plate, which identified him as a veteran of the First Cavalry Division of the U.S. Army, the same division that was immortalized in the book and subsequent movie “We Were Soldiers.”

Because of that chance meeting, Cepek came to talk to the students about his time in Vietnam, about how he fought for three years all the way from Danang in the northern part of the country to the southern part of Vietnam near the Mekong Delta, and even in Cambodia.

Cepek, who enthusiastically signed up for service immediately after his high school graduation, served many roles in the war. He was a machine gunner on a helicopter, served in a reconnaissance unit on the ground and eventually worked his way up to an officer, where he controlled his own combat unit.

But the talk, which lasted nearly two hours, wasn’t always easy for Cepek. He spoke about rescue and recovery missions of downed helicopters, of the friends he lost in the war and the sights he saw.

There was more than one instance where he had to stop and catch himself.

“There are parts I’d like to forget, but no matter how hard I strive to forget them I never will,” he said.

It’s still hard to talk about some aspects of the war, Cepek said, even after several decades. It weighs heavier on him as he gets older because his memory fades back to those who didn’t come home.

“The older you get the more nostalgic and sentimental you get,” he said. “That’s very much the case for me.”

He has plenty of awards and official commendations from his time in the service, which lasted for a total of 20 years. But there are also the lasting scars, both emotional and physical.

Cepek told the class he recently fought a battle with lung cancer despite never being a smoker. The medical professionals at Veterans Affairs attributed it to exposure to Agent Orange, a chemical the United States used in Vietnam.

Even with the memories and health scare, Cepek said he doesn’t regret a thing from his military service. To this day it makes him proud to be part of such a strong brotherhood.

Lucot told his students to pay attention to what Cepek told them. Any story or fact that came from Cepek is much more insightful than anything they could learn in a history book.

“These opportunities are few and far between,” he said.