thedrifter
02-13-08, 05:41 AM
Students send valentines to Marines
By Bonnie Washuk , Staff Writer
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
LEWISTON - On Thursday, 200 Marines in Iraq will get valentines from local school children, plus phone cards to call their loved ones.
Montello Elementary School sent the package to its adopted Marine Corps unit, Company C of the 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion, based in Camp Pendleton, Calif.
Sgt. Jeffrey Duncan of Lewiston is in the unit.
Typically, such an adoption means students send off a package every month with cards and letters. For Valentine's Day, Montello students decided to include phone cards with 92 minutes each for all 200 Marines.
The school set a goal of collecting $1,000 for the Call the Ones They Love drive.
"We collected more than $200 from students and teachers," said teaching assistant Nanci Breau. "Children came in with piggy banks. One brought in his Elvis Presley guitar bank and dumped it all in."
Geiger, a Lewiston company that has adopted the school, donated $500, and a Texas businessman who works with Geiger donated $275.
Students put effort into their Valentine's Day cards, Breau said. One boy drew scenery of Maine, with moose and pine trees. Several children had a similar message for the Marines: "I hope you come back safe."
Valentines from Somali students, some of whom have lost family members to war, were "very intense," Breau said. "They made very nice messages: 'Thank you for keeping us free,' or 'Sorry you can't be home with your family.'"
Claire Hackett of Lewiston, who works at Geiger and is the mother of Sgt. Duncan, said the valentines and phone cards would mean a lot to the Marines in Iraq.
At Christmas, the students' cards and letters decorated the walls of the soldiers' barracks, Hackett said. They were just wonderful," she said. "The men were just thrilled."
Every time a Marine walked past a card or letter, "they stopped and read it, and walked away with a smile on their face. It was heartwarming," she said.
The soldiers will appreciate the phone cards, she said. They can e-mail, but phone calls are less common, Breau said. "To be able to call home and hear a loved one's voice just gives them inspiration to continue doing the job they're doing," she said.
Ellie
By Bonnie Washuk , Staff Writer
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
LEWISTON - On Thursday, 200 Marines in Iraq will get valentines from local school children, plus phone cards to call their loved ones.
Montello Elementary School sent the package to its adopted Marine Corps unit, Company C of the 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion, based in Camp Pendleton, Calif.
Sgt. Jeffrey Duncan of Lewiston is in the unit.
Typically, such an adoption means students send off a package every month with cards and letters. For Valentine's Day, Montello students decided to include phone cards with 92 minutes each for all 200 Marines.
The school set a goal of collecting $1,000 for the Call the Ones They Love drive.
"We collected more than $200 from students and teachers," said teaching assistant Nanci Breau. "Children came in with piggy banks. One brought in his Elvis Presley guitar bank and dumped it all in."
Geiger, a Lewiston company that has adopted the school, donated $500, and a Texas businessman who works with Geiger donated $275.
Students put effort into their Valentine's Day cards, Breau said. One boy drew scenery of Maine, with moose and pine trees. Several children had a similar message for the Marines: "I hope you come back safe."
Valentines from Somali students, some of whom have lost family members to war, were "very intense," Breau said. "They made very nice messages: 'Thank you for keeping us free,' or 'Sorry you can't be home with your family.'"
Claire Hackett of Lewiston, who works at Geiger and is the mother of Sgt. Duncan, said the valentines and phone cards would mean a lot to the Marines in Iraq.
At Christmas, the students' cards and letters decorated the walls of the soldiers' barracks, Hackett said. They were just wonderful," she said. "The men were just thrilled."
Every time a Marine walked past a card or letter, "they stopped and read it, and walked away with a smile on their face. It was heartwarming," she said.
The soldiers will appreciate the phone cards, she said. They can e-mail, but phone calls are less common, Breau said. "To be able to call home and hear a loved one's voice just gives them inspiration to continue doing the job they're doing," she said.
Ellie