Iraq War Veteran Meets Pen Pals For The First Time

Wednesday, May 23rd 2007, 10:12 am

By: News On 6

A Green Country soldier just back from Iraq met her fan club face to face for the first time Wednesday. They were a roomful of second-graders whose letters helped her through one of the toughest times in her life. The News On 6â€™s Heather Lewin reports just back from Iraq, Army Specialist Lindsay Whitworth went on a mission of her own, one more than a year in the making.

Whitworth finally got to meet the Hoover Elementary second-graders who surprised her with a huge packet of letters shortly after she went to war and kept the mail coming.

"It was just, I can't explain the feeling, it was joy that even though I'm halfway around the world my cousin and my family and people I didn't even know were right there supporting us," Whitworth said.

Mrs. Butler's class writes to a different soldier every year.

"We have never had in all the years we've written, anyone that has written to every child a letter like she has written," said Butler.

"To me, they were extremely important because it seemed like at the worst times, maybe we lost a soldier and I was feeling a bit down, or maybe we were just going through a rough time, or things weren't going the way I planned, those letters always seemed to come right at that perfect moment," said Whitworth.

Whitworth answered questions and brought in gear from Iraq to give the kids hands on experience.

â€œI feel like every last one of them are my little friends. And no matter where I go, I'll look back on this experience and go, I had 20 some odd friends while I was in Iraq," Whitworth said.

Watch the video: Hoover Students Meet Their Soldier Pen Pal