thedrifter
02-05-09, 08:25 AM
Students receive flag flown in Iraq from Marines
Written by Becca Manning
Bryantville Elementary School teacher Helen Healey told her second graders not to expect letters back from the U.S. Marines they have been writing to since September.
“I told them they’re busy over there,” said Healey, whose nephew Lt. Col. Geoffrey Rollins was deployed to Iraq in September to command more than 800 Marines.
So Healey was surprised to return home on Jan. 23 and find a package waiting for her. In it was an American flag that had been flown over Camp Korean Village in Iraq on Dec. 15 and a citation from the U.S. Department of Defense thanking the students for their support.
“I wasn’t expecting it, so it was really an honor for us to get it,” Healey said. “I have a brother who’s a former Marine and I called him and told him about it and he said, ‘That’s an honor. There’s not very many of those [flags] that they send to people.’”
Healey said she plans to hang the flag somewhere in the school where everyone can see it. The pen-pal program was a school-wide effort.
After her nephew was deployed in September, Healey said she came up with an idea to have the whole school write to the Marines under his command. At a Hat Day in October, students and staff raised $525 to pay for stamps, envelopes and other materials they would need for the project.
“I distributed names to every student in the school and the teachers incorporated that as part of their curriculum. Some of the children wrote letters, some of them did cards,” Healey said. About 30 kids have heard back from their Marines.
“I have been writing things about me, and I’ve been asking him questions like what’s his favorite color. He wrote back to me and it was red and gold for McDonald’s,” second grader Christopher Osborne said last Thursday, as the class showed off their flag and citation.
The fast food restaurant was a favorite of several of the Marines, according to the kids.
“He said his favorite meal was chicken nuggets,” second grader Morgan Cassford said of her pen pal.
Emily Claflin asked her Marine if he was a Red Sox or Yankee fan, but hasn’t heard back yet.
“I wrote to my soldier my name and what I was doing in school, and I told him that I liked to read and all the things that I liked to do,” second grader Lauren Walsh said.
The students said they were excited to receive letters back and seemed to think the project was a good idea.
“I think why we did this was so they weren’t bored and they had something to do on their free time,” second grader Aidan Geary explained.
Healey said the project is nearing an end because the battalion will be returning to the states in the end of March but that she would be interested in doing the project again.
Ellie
Written by Becca Manning
Bryantville Elementary School teacher Helen Healey told her second graders not to expect letters back from the U.S. Marines they have been writing to since September.
“I told them they’re busy over there,” said Healey, whose nephew Lt. Col. Geoffrey Rollins was deployed to Iraq in September to command more than 800 Marines.
So Healey was surprised to return home on Jan. 23 and find a package waiting for her. In it was an American flag that had been flown over Camp Korean Village in Iraq on Dec. 15 and a citation from the U.S. Department of Defense thanking the students for their support.
“I wasn’t expecting it, so it was really an honor for us to get it,” Healey said. “I have a brother who’s a former Marine and I called him and told him about it and he said, ‘That’s an honor. There’s not very many of those [flags] that they send to people.’”
Healey said she plans to hang the flag somewhere in the school where everyone can see it. The pen-pal program was a school-wide effort.
After her nephew was deployed in September, Healey said she came up with an idea to have the whole school write to the Marines under his command. At a Hat Day in October, students and staff raised $525 to pay for stamps, envelopes and other materials they would need for the project.
“I distributed names to every student in the school and the teachers incorporated that as part of their curriculum. Some of the children wrote letters, some of them did cards,” Healey said. About 30 kids have heard back from their Marines.
“I have been writing things about me, and I’ve been asking him questions like what’s his favorite color. He wrote back to me and it was red and gold for McDonald’s,” second grader Christopher Osborne said last Thursday, as the class showed off their flag and citation.
The fast food restaurant was a favorite of several of the Marines, according to the kids.
“He said his favorite meal was chicken nuggets,” second grader Morgan Cassford said of her pen pal.
Emily Claflin asked her Marine if he was a Red Sox or Yankee fan, but hasn’t heard back yet.
“I wrote to my soldier my name and what I was doing in school, and I told him that I liked to read and all the things that I liked to do,” second grader Lauren Walsh said.
The students said they were excited to receive letters back and seemed to think the project was a good idea.
“I think why we did this was so they weren’t bored and they had something to do on their free time,” second grader Aidan Geary explained.
Healey said the project is nearing an end because the battalion will be returning to the states in the end of March but that she would be interested in doing the project again.
Ellie