Flag of gratitude flies over High School South Soldiers send flag flown during Iraq mission to students BY MARIANNE KLIGMAN Correspondent Pictured withMiddletown High School South English teacher Eileen Stroever (l-r) are Anthony DiMambro (top row), Mike Roura, Alyssa Quirk (bottom row), Valerie Fazio and Alex Curtis. Below: This flag was flown in an Apache helicopter during a mission in Iraq. MIDDLETOWN- AnAmerican flag flies proudly overMiddletownHigh School South. It is a flag that on June 19 flew in anApache helicopter during a reconnaissance mission over Iraq. Themission- namedArrowhead Ripper - was part of a larger campaign to flush al- Qaeda out of Baghdad and its surrounding provinces. It was a dangerous mission and the helicopter took enemy fire; if the bullets had hit a few centimeters closer to the fuel line, it would have been set aflame. Perhaps the flag, a thank you to theHigh School South students who had raised the spirits of the soldiers of the 82ndCombatAviation Brigade, was the airmen's lucky charm that day. The story of the flag begins in November 2006 in junior level, back-to-backEnglish and history classes at Middletown High School South (MHSS) taught byEileen Stroever and Kevin Cullen. MARIANNE KLIGMAN The classes are a double period of English and history, which dovetails the curriculum to reinforce the themes taught. At the time, while the students were learning about American history and the world wars, they were simultaneously reading "All Quiet on the Western Front." Cullen would occasionally return tomodern daywith discussions on current events including, the IraqWar. At the time Stroever had two nephews serving in Iraq. One nephew, Capt. James F. Martin, who had grown up in Lincroft, was a flight surgeon stationed at a medical base in Tikrit with constant access to e-mail. Stroever assigned her students, all 110 of them, to e-mail the army doctorwith instructions to ask at least five questions about his experiences in Iraq. A sustained six-month correspondence developed between the high school students andMartin.He became their eyes and ears to war in real time. "The students were so excited to receive replies to their e-mails and quite surprised to see how long, detailed and frank James was about life in Iraq," said Stroever. PHOTO BY EAGLE EYE STAFF Capt. James F. Martin visits his student correspondents after completing his tour of Iraq. Alyssa Quirk, currently a senior, was intrigued by the exercise. "It was a lot different to talk to someone that was there rather than hearing about it on TV or talking about it in class. Capt.Martin seemed really relaxed too, some people don't like to talk about it." SeniorMike Roura agreed. "I think he was just very happy to do it. He reallywanted us to knowwhat is going on over there. But, I didn't expect the detail of what it was like. I just asked him about the weather [this was December] and he toldme that it was 120 degrees on a good day. I just kept thinking, 'How do those guys do it over there with all their gear in that heat?'" Valerie Fazio, another student, recalled, "I asked him, 'Whatwas one of theworst things you have ever seen?' It really grossedme out when he toldme about a soldier who came in with a limb hanging by a string." Roura added, "When I asked what they do during the day, I learned that the down time is long but when something really awful happens, they are very, very busy." Another surprise was how the emails were shared with the other soldiers on base. The students soon came to know the soldiers of the 82nd AirborneDivision and decided to do something special for them. "Through all the correspondence, it was clear that they reallymissed home and most of all, home cooking," Stroever explained. "So we decided we would bake cookies, real homemade cookies fromscratch. A poll was taken among the students on the threemost popular cookie types. Chocolate chip, sugar and oatmeal won. For student Alex Curtis, it was a new experience. "That was the first time inmy life I ever baked cookies," he said. Three large packages were sent last spring to a very receptive crowd in Tikrit. Martin wrote his aunt, "These little locusts tore into the cookies. Everyone much loved them." He also expressed his appreciation for the other gift- the gift of correspondence- that showed interest, care and concern. "The letters meant a lot to me, a breath of fresh air, a sense of normalcy, communication with the 'real world,'" explained Martin, who had not seen his young family in eightmonths. Martin told the students he would read news reports that the war was losing popularity inAmerica and worried that the American soldier would be forgotten. He complimented the students for their maturity and genuine interest in the war. "The questions they e-mailed tome showed both a compassion for the situation, aswell as a quest for the truth; both descriptors that I hope they hold to for the rest of their lives." He told them of the gift of the flag, explaining that is how his unit honors loved ones. On some missions, the Apache helicopter pilots fly a flag in the cockpit with a specific person in mind.And on June 19 that one person was multiplied to 110 Middletown High School South students. He explained that his friends, Capt. Glenn McQuown, Bravo Company (Whitewolves), and Commander and Chief Warrant Officer 3 Steve Crandall, both decorated army airmen, agreed to fly the flag for Mrs. Stroever's and Mr. Cullen's classes. The flag arrived in late August, while school was not in session. At the October Board ofEducationmeeting, several students addressed the boardwhile cradling the folded flag in their arms and explained its significance to them. It was hard to spot a dry eye that evening. Martin finally came home in late November. Accompanied by his wife, Amy, and toddler son, Graham, he made a brief stop to visit his aunt and speak to her students. Word quickly spread of the army surgeon's visit and students were packed in the classroomand lined outside in the hallway to hear him. He was as open and frank with his audience as he had been in his correspondence a year earlier. Additionally, the presence of the doctor, who had patched up somany damaged limbs, standing next to his toddler son really brought the reality of the soldiers' sacrifice home to the students. The award-winning High School South newspaper, "The Eagle Eye," wrote a poignant story of his visit. Stroever was happy to be able to provide this invaluable experience to her students, but she also learned something in the process. "Kevin and I originally embarked on this to give the students more awareness of current events and the sacrifice the soldiers make as it correlated with the book we were reading. The interesting thing I found was howenormous an impactwemade on the soldiers by just sending themhome-baked cookies." The impact was obviously reciprocal, as Alex Curtis stated, "Thiswas the best thing I ever did in school."