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thedrifter
11-24-07, 05:59 AM
Adams
To the troops, with love
Plunkett students take pride in writing U.S. Marines with well-wishes during the holidays
By Bonnie Obremski, North Adams Transcript
Article Last Updated: 11/23/2007 12:43:18 PM EST

Thursday, November 22

ADAMS — Gabrielle Bartlett, 10, a fifth-grader at C.T. Plunkett Elementary School, sifted through a set of colored pencils Monday morning as she began to draw a picture of her uncle on the front of a holiday greeting card. Her Uncle Dave, she said, is a Marine serving in Iraq.

"Are you writing that card to your uncle?" her classmate, Matt Burdick, 10, asked her.

Gabrielle nodded her head.

Matt was drawing a Christmas tree on the front of his card, which will be sent with the other ones his classmates made, to Marines serving overseas. A commanding officer will randomly distribute the children's cards and letters next month.

"You know, your uncle's probably not going to get that," Matt said to Gabrielle.

She shrugged her shoulders and looked away.

"I'm going to draw a picture of us holding hands," she said. "I'm going to write to take care and that I hope you don't get hurt or die."

She said the last her family heard, her uncle was well. But, she was unsure where he was.

The cards the class made this week will go to one of 120 men serving in one of the three artillery batteries of the 1st battalion, 11th Marine regiment,
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stationed out of Pendleton, Calif.

Adopt-A-Marine program

According to North Adams native Alicia Cellana, who encouraged Karen Koehler's fifth-grade class to send holiday greetings to troops this season, many of the cards will reach soldiers who might not have caring nieces like Gabrielle.

"Most are fairly young and from broken homes, unfortunately," Cellana wrote in an e-mail to Koehler. "They have been deployed to Iraq since June of 2007 and have recently found out that their tour has been extended by three months. We're really just looking for holiday cards to cheer the individual Marines up."

Cellana, who participates in the national Adopt-A-Marine program, said she contacted many teachers in Berkshire County and has arranged card drop-off locations and times for anyone else who wants to send greetings overseas. The North Adams Fire Department and the Williamstown Public Library will be accepting holiday cards and letters on Saturday, Dec. 1, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and on Thursday, Dec. 6, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Cellana shared some details about the daily lives of the Marines with Koehler so that she could help students feel more connected with the men. Koehler wrote some of these details on the chalkboard, along with some phrases the children might include in the card, such as "Thank you," "Be safe," "Take care," "We're thinking of you," and "Have a happy holiday."

"I think it's hard to understand what's going on in Iraq and hard for them to even understand where Iraq is," Koehler said. "This helps make the world a little smaller and maybe helps them appreciate that there are people out there putting their lives on the line every day so we can be free."

London Green, 11, began her letter with a message of appreciation.

"Dear Alpha Battery Marine,

"Thank you for everything you have done for us," she wrote in pencil across the top of the inside of her card. "You guys are doing a great job with what you're doing for your people."

Finding the right words

Some students, brushing away bits of pencil erasers from pages, were still unsure what their cards would look like when they were finished.

"I'm going to write, 'Happy holidays,'" Thailia Chee, 10, said, smiling before dashing toward Koehler who had holiday-themed stickers students could use.

"I even have Kwanzaa stickers," Koehler said.

Cody O'Neill, 10, was drawing a green Jeep at a military checkpoint.

"I have a cousin who came back from Iraq, but he was in the army," Cody said. "He's OK."

"My grandfather served in Korea," Max Hartman, 10, said, writing the words "be safe" in front of a camouflage background.

McKenzie Robinson, 10, said she did not know anyone personally who is serving in Iraq, but she would still be thinking about the Marines.

"I think it's hard time for them because they don't get to see their families for a long time," she said.

Send a message

For more information about mailing holiday greetings to Marines serving overseas, send an e-mail to Alicia Cellana at CardsForMarines@googlemail.com.

Ellie