PDA

View Full Version : Students repay Libertyville Marine's class visit



thedrifter
03-14-06, 12:51 PM
Students repay Libertyville Marine's class visit
By Frank Abderholden
Staff Writer

The "thank you" letters from the fourth grade class at Butterfield School to United States Marine Lance Cpl. Nicholas Carson of Libertyville are colorful and show how well the students were listening when he visited their class in February.

"Thank you for coming to our class today. It was very nice having you here today," wrote John Schueler.

"I am going to send you a snack. Thank you for telling us all about boot camp and all the other stuff. I don't think I'm going to boot camp. I learned that you have shot a sniper rifle before and how some one shot you, but they missed," he wrote.

Lance Cpl. Carson and his family have been life long friends with Norlene Kemp so she invited him to her fourth grade class to meet the children who had sent him letters when he was stationed in Afghanistan.

Then the children wrote "thank you" letters for his school visit that his mom, Joy, has saved.

"Some of them are so sweet.

One was going to send him a snack," said Joy Carson.
Many of the notes from the children were festive with artsy swirls of colors and personalized like Erin Morris' letter that showed a drawing of her and Carson and a flag.

"I learned three important and interesting things. How to stand when saying the Pledge of Allegiance, what the military is like and that life isn't very good in Afghanistan," she wrote.

Teacher Kemp said that in the past the kids were always slouching, leaning on their desk or putting a knee on a chair when saying the Pledge of Allegiance.

"When he came to class I asked him how the Marines do it," said Kemp.

He went on to show them how the heels are together and the feet pointed out slightly. Back straight and hand over you heart while the other hand has a the thumb on the seem of his trousers. "The kids are much better now," laughed Kemp. "They stand much better since he showed them," she continued.

The Carsons and the Kemps know each other from the Libertyville Evangelical Free Church. The letters sent to Carson when he was in the Kunar province north of Kabul in Afghanistan were filled with stickers and what sports the kids liked to play, the music they liked and the food they enjoyed. "I showed them around to the rest of my squad. It's always nice to know that there are people thinking of you back on the home front," said Carson from Hawaii, where he is waiting with his squad to be deployed to Iraq in the fall.

"I kept them in the 'community pile' of reading material and left them for the guys that relieved us," he said. Carson attended Adler Elementary School.

Carson's platoon was stationed at Camp Blessing and he said that area is still primitive and hostile.

"Most of our efforts were focusing on counter-insurgency, the capture of weapons caches, and public aid," he said, adding that aid included assisting in building projects and emergency medical aid to locals.

"We were able to inoculate hundreds of students and pass out medical supplies and other necessities such as blankets," he said.

Things were not quiet most of the time.

"Due to the aggressiveness of the bad guys in our area, we saw more action than most. We were spending about half our time in the field on one or two week patrols through some pretty treacherous mountains," he said.

"Our reconstruction efforts were focusing on roads, schools and farming. Afghanistan used to grow nothing but opium, but now we have virtually everyone growing corn. The local children are being sent to school whenever possible," Carson said.

From the sound of the "thank you" letters, the children back home were listening intently to their visitor. "They were really quiet when he walked into the room with his dress blues on," said Kemp.

Maddie Sefton was impressed by the weaponry. "I didn't know that you would carry a gun that was 23 pounds! I also didn't know that there was a gun that weighed 1,000 pounds," she wrote.

The lessons about the flag and Pledge of Allegiance were not lost on Margaret Hoover, who told Carson at the end of her letter that " For now on I will respect the flag more," she said.

Taylor Hulfe wrote that "it is really interesting that you send the bad boys to prison and not kill them to get rid of them." Then she wished him a belated Valentines Day.

For Haley Skeenf it was Carson's fashion statement struck home. "The badges are so cool!! So is the hat. I'm glad you help fight for our freedom," she said.

Matt Reed also had a patriotic comment. "Thank you so much for coming to our class. You are great for keeping our country free," he said. Meredith Varner also liked his uniform and said, "I learned that it is hard to get mail, you can get very lonely, and you have to help the people in Afganistan (sic)," she said.

Ciaran Kavanagh said he wished he was in the marines and he told him how he has a couple of war games he plays at home. "I learned the marines have rocket launchers not just in the army. I think you are cool.

"And I think the other marines are cool too. My dad was in the army a few about 20 years ago I'd say," he said.

Kemp wrote him that he was a "larger than life hero to these young kids."

"It was great fun. We had a really good time," she said.
03/14/06

Ellie