Posted on 04/26/2006 11:04:15 AM PDT by txroadkill
GRAND PRAIRIE – Sgt. Chris Hockman didn't hear the 18 first-graders chanting his name minutes before he arrived in their room at Moore Elementary School on Monday.
But he has been feeling their love for five months.
The students have been writing to Iraq since November, when their teacher, Claudia Flores, "adopted" Sgt. Hockman through the nonprofit group Operation AC. He has become so close to the students, he decided to spend part of his two-week leave meeting them.
"I didn't know when I would get back again, and in a few weeks the kids will be out for the summer, so I decided to come now," said Sgt. Hockman, 27, who is with the Pennsylvania-based Army National Guard 109th Infantry Division.
Getting him to Texas was a community effort. The school's Parent Teacher Association provided $1,000 to help with the hotel and other expenses, and Southwest Airlines donated the flight.
(Excerpt) Read more at dallasnews.com ...
Maddie doesn't quite understand all of what's going on, her mother said, but it didn't stop her from making friends. She joined the class when they colored drawings of the U.S. flag.
The students, whom Sgt. Hockman dubbed "Little Gypsies" because his platoon is called the Gypsies, recited a poem for him about the American flag. When they sang a verse of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," Mrs. Hockman dabbed away tears.
"He sends me their stuff, so I've seen all their pictures and the stories they wrote about him," she said. "It means a lot to him to know there are people all the way down in Texas who care about him."
For Madalyn Berlanga, 7, seeing Sgt. Hockman was a reminder of her own father who served in Iraq.
"My dad thinks it's really good that we get to write to another soldier," Madalyn said.
Sgt. Hockman brought the students personalized military dog tags. And his Award of Achievement medal earned in Iraq will remain prominently displayed in Chris' Corner.
"I'm going to leave that. It's my gift to them," Sgt. Hockman said. "I think I've had a positive effect on these kids, and I feel real proud of that."
Oh, what a sweet story! Bless that soldier and his family! It's also refreshing to know there are still great teachers out there in spite of all the nasty perverted ones I've been reading about here lately!
I practically need to raid my linens closet to hold back my emotions.
"I didn't know when I would get back again, and in a few weeks the kids will be out for the summer, so I decided to come now," said Sgt. Hockman, 27, who is with the Pennsylvania-based Army National Guard 109th Infantry Division.
Thanks for the ping!
I was thinking the same thing........"What a sweet story!" just before I read your post! Those children will remember this for the rest of their lives, and the soldier and his family too.
When I was in elementary school (Vietnam War), I had a POW bracelet.
My POW lived in our city, and my parents met him at some event.
Then my family went to see my brother march for the Corps of Cadets at Texas A&M. Standing in back of us was my POW, Lt. Col. Samuel Johnson (now congressman). He still had a cast on his right hand from being in the prison camp, and I had to shake his left hand.
I was thrilled. In school we had to write about our heroes. Most of the kids picked Superman (or other stupid things to write about), but I picked my POW.
I'd love to see him again and tell him what an inspiration he was to me.
ping
How sweet.
Wow, great story.
Many thanks for the great story and many thanks to a great teacher!
You are supposed to put the kleenex warning at the BEGINNING of the post, not the end!!! Other than that, great post! (Darn blurry screens...)
Thank you for posting such a wonderful story. God bless that teacher for helping those kids understand how important it is to support our military. And may God bless that GI and his family. That is really a good class project. Wish more schools did that. I know a lot of them do. Maybe I should wish they would get more publicity.
Time out for once from their indoctrination into PC culture, gay sex and Islamic studies.
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