Soldier visits some Tulsa students who were his pen-pals

A class of Tulsa Union School district fifth graders spent months writing to a local soldier who was serving in Iraq. They got a chance Monday to meet their pen-pal. <br><br>News on 6 anchor Terry Hood

Monday, January 12th 2004, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

A class of Tulsa Union School district fifth graders spent months writing to a local soldier who was serving in Iraq. They got a chance Monday to meet their pen-pal.

News on 6 anchor Terry Hood says the fifth graders helped brighten his day when he was thousands of miles away from home. So Monday, a local soldier returned the favor.

First Lieutenant Wes Bradshaw first got to know the students at Anderson Elementary through their letters. Monday, he met them face to face.

Lieutenant Bradshaw was stationed in the Middle East for seven months, as part of a military police unit. He says letters from these fifth graders helped him through some rough days.

He told the students how his unit helped train the Iraqi police and what it was like to live in the desert. But the lieutenant's pictures of Saddam Hussein's palaces really captured their attention. 11-year-old Kendall Sawyer: "It was fun meeting him cause we know about him and we'd been writing to em and we finally get to see em."

Student Kayla Statham: "It was fun to have him here because I learned more about Iraq and I might want to join the military police and stuff like that."

Lieutenant Bradshaw is based out of Fort Sill. He says he doesn't think he'll have to return to the Middle East, but members of his unit are still there.