Boy Praised for Bringing Hat with Toy Soldiers to School

Boy Praised for Bringing Hat with Toy Soldiers to School

The second grader whose hat was banned from school because it had toy soldiers on it was given a medal and the title of honorary brigadier general today by Ret. Lt. Gen. Reginald Centracchio.

The second grader, 8-year-old David Morales received the medal while on the John DePetro show on 630 WPRO, a GoLocalProv media partner.

A Coventry school had banned the hat, saying it violated its no-weapons policy. But Centracchio, the former commander of the Rhode Island National Guard, said the school could have instead used the incident to teach students about the sacrifices of U.S. soldiers. “The U.S. military is armed. It uses weapons from time to time to defend our freedom,” he said.

GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST

“You are representative of the next generation and we are really hoping that kids of your generation will come to defend this country and recognize that the military is serving to protect our freedom,” Centracchio told the boy.

A spokesman for the National Guard, however, declined to take a position. “It’s a civilian matter,” said Lt. Col. Denis Riel. “We don’t take a stance on civilian matters.”