thedrifter
09-24-03, 06:23 AM
Traveling Bears Give Students a
'First-Paw' View of Deployment
By Maj. Bobby Hart / 143rd Transportation Command
CAMP ARIFJAN, KUWAIT — You wouldn’t expect to see a couple of stuffed bears riding in convoys heading into Iraq, but that’s exactly what Fred and Ted are doing courtesy of Maj. John Ruckart, a logistics officer for the Tampa’s 32nd Transportation Group.
Fred and Ted belong to Mrs. Carolyn Conner’s kindergarten class at Forest Lakes Elementary School in Oldsmar, Fla. They go home with students every weekend and have been traveling with families of the students for the past 17 years. They send back photos of their trips that are turned into lessons for the class.
Ruckart, whose son Johnny is in Conner’s class, provided a perfect opportunity for the pair of bears to make their first trip out of the United States. After he went home on leave, Fred and Ted made the journey back to Kuwait with him.
“Mrs. Conner was very happy about the idea of bringing them over here,” said Ruckart, who has been deployed to Kuwait since March. “My wife, Kathleen, talked me into it, and she volunteered me. I’ve created a website with pictures of where the bears have been to show the kids.”
When Fred and Ted came over with Ruckart, they brought letters and pictures from the students to share with the soldiers.
“Many of the children in the school have written letters to the soldiers over here and are very involved and interested in the war effort,” Ruckart said. “In a way, it is like their friends (the bears) are visiting Kuwait and Iraq for them.”
Ted and Fred, who have also visited places like Washington, D.C. and Disney World and even gone fishing with the principal of Forest Lakes, will wind up their Good “Bear” Ambassador trip to the Middle East when they return home in October with Maj. Daniel Ellis, another 32nd soldier who volunteered to escort the furry friends back to Florida.
They’ll take with them a lot of photographs of Kuwait and Iraq and will provide the children at Forest Lakes a “first-paw” look at life in the Middle East.
http://www.defendamerica.mil/images/photos/sep2003/articles/ai092303b3.jpg
Fred and Ted pose at the Iraqi border with Maj. John Ruckart prior to leaving Kuwait on a convoy. U.S. Army photo by Maj. John Ruckart, 32nd Transportation Group.
http://www.defendamerica.mil/images/photos/sep2003/articles/ai092303b4.jpg
Fred and Ted on top of the Temple of the Moon ziggurat with the ruins of the city of Ur—reputed birthplace of Abraham—in the background.U.S. Army photo by Maj. John Ruckart,
32nd Transportation Group.
Sempers,
Roger
:marine:
'First-Paw' View of Deployment
By Maj. Bobby Hart / 143rd Transportation Command
CAMP ARIFJAN, KUWAIT — You wouldn’t expect to see a couple of stuffed bears riding in convoys heading into Iraq, but that’s exactly what Fred and Ted are doing courtesy of Maj. John Ruckart, a logistics officer for the Tampa’s 32nd Transportation Group.
Fred and Ted belong to Mrs. Carolyn Conner’s kindergarten class at Forest Lakes Elementary School in Oldsmar, Fla. They go home with students every weekend and have been traveling with families of the students for the past 17 years. They send back photos of their trips that are turned into lessons for the class.
Ruckart, whose son Johnny is in Conner’s class, provided a perfect opportunity for the pair of bears to make their first trip out of the United States. After he went home on leave, Fred and Ted made the journey back to Kuwait with him.
“Mrs. Conner was very happy about the idea of bringing them over here,” said Ruckart, who has been deployed to Kuwait since March. “My wife, Kathleen, talked me into it, and she volunteered me. I’ve created a website with pictures of where the bears have been to show the kids.”
When Fred and Ted came over with Ruckart, they brought letters and pictures from the students to share with the soldiers.
“Many of the children in the school have written letters to the soldiers over here and are very involved and interested in the war effort,” Ruckart said. “In a way, it is like their friends (the bears) are visiting Kuwait and Iraq for them.”
Ted and Fred, who have also visited places like Washington, D.C. and Disney World and even gone fishing with the principal of Forest Lakes, will wind up their Good “Bear” Ambassador trip to the Middle East when they return home in October with Maj. Daniel Ellis, another 32nd soldier who volunteered to escort the furry friends back to Florida.
They’ll take with them a lot of photographs of Kuwait and Iraq and will provide the children at Forest Lakes a “first-paw” look at life in the Middle East.
http://www.defendamerica.mil/images/photos/sep2003/articles/ai092303b3.jpg
Fred and Ted pose at the Iraqi border with Maj. John Ruckart prior to leaving Kuwait on a convoy. U.S. Army photo by Maj. John Ruckart, 32nd Transportation Group.
http://www.defendamerica.mil/images/photos/sep2003/articles/ai092303b4.jpg
Fred and Ted on top of the Temple of the Moon ziggurat with the ruins of the city of Ur—reputed birthplace of Abraham—in the background.U.S. Army photo by Maj. John Ruckart,
32nd Transportation Group.
Sempers,
Roger
:marine: