Correspondence links students and military, helps keep democracy healthy.
By Gail Geraghty
Staff Writer

HARTFORD – An American Army soldier writes: “The days here are long and boring here at the border of Syria and Iraq. Quiet. Not like Baghdad. But from here, we can see how fragile freedom is, and how precious.”

Staff Sgt. Jamison R. McAlister of Buckfield recently wrote those words in a letter to second-grade students in Linda Andrews-Chute’s class at Hartford-Sumner Elementary School. He has been writing to the students since the school year began, and they have been writing to him.

McAlister, serving in the 101st Airborne, 187th Infantry, and his former teacher, Andrews-Chute, go back a long way. The 27-year teaching veteran had McAlister for a student when he was in the first-grade.

McAlister kept regular contact with the students during Operation Iraqi Freedom, writing specifically to each child, Andrews-Chute said. He was part of the initial assault on Baghdad.

The kids think he’s a hero. But he writes back, “I’m not a hero. I’m just trying to do good things.”

Andrews-Chute believes strongly in having her students develop military pen pals. “I believe that communications is the key to the health of our democracy and the continued quality of life in America,” she said.

McAlister isn’t the only soldier the students have written to. They’ve written to soldiers throughout the school year in the Navy, Army, Air Force and Marines, as well as the British Royal Air Force. The troops are stationed in many countries, including Afghanistan, Korea, Guam, Kuwait and Iraq.

They also write to another local soldier, Leonard Swihart of Buckfield, who’s with the 3rd MAW Marine Corps. Swihart, who’s being rotated back and forth from the action in Iraq, was able to pay the students a surprise visit the last week of school.

“Through their military pen pals, they take a lot of pride in their country that they might not otherwise have,” Andrews-Chute said. “They have a better understanding of the world and a much greater appreciation for the freedoms they enjoy.”

McAlister sent an American flag to the school that he has carried through several deployments. Andrews-Chute said she has received permission from Maine Gov. John Baldacci to have the flag fly over the Capitol in Augusta.

The date for the flag-flying hasn’t been set, but Andrews-Chute plans to take a group of her students to Augusta to witness the flag being raised.

“As a classroom teacher, this project is a wonderful way to incorporate character education, literacy skills, world geography and technology into the daily classroom routine,” Andrews-Chute said.

The students, including, on occasion, Mrs. Tolman’s third-graders, used a combination of e-mail and regular mail and sent out more than 120 letters and packages to the soldiers since March. The project will resume with a new class in September.

Over the course of 10 years of service in the military, McAlister has been deployed to combat seven times, and been awarded 26 separate medals, he told the students.

He also told them that he considers it an honor “to be here, seeing the beginnings of a new country, seeing democracy take hold. It is very special . . . an honor being part of it all.”

ggeraghty@sunjournal.com

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