Child Gets to Wear Military Uniform on Halloween

A student at Suzanne Middle School in Walnut wanted to wear a Marine uniform on Halloween to honor his two uncles who are both in the service.

But then he brought a letter home from school that said in part, “in light of the current political climate around the world, dress related to military or terrorist organizations, or anything that could be construed as offensive to any ethnic group, will not be allowed.

Aidan Kocalis felt this meant he could not wear a uniform to honor his uncle who is serving with the Marines in Afghanistan or his other uncle in the Coast Guard.

“He asked one of his teachers and one of his counselors and the counselor said no, he can’t wear a uniform,” Lil Kocalis, his grandmother, said.

His grandmother added that the uncles are Aiden’s role models “so he’s proud to be a Marine and they said no, he can’t.”

But the story does not end here.

The Kocalis family took their fight to Suzanne Middle School and then to the Superintendent’s office.

He decided the rule against wearing a U.S. military uniform did not seem right.

This morning, the superintendent announced the letter was a mistake. It came from an old rule that had not been erased from the books and has not been followed for a long time.

This means Aidan will get to wear his costume on Monday without worrying about breaking the rules.

And he learned an important lesson from this: If something seems not right, speak up and fight for change.

 

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