The Buffalo firefighter befriended by Prep II last year returned from United States Air Force duty in Iraq and visited our school on Feb. 5 to meet with the children. Master Sergeant Rodney Wilkinson gave a presentation to Lower School students on “Building Nations,” which emphasized the ways we can all serve others and help other countries around the world.
Our Prep II students first met Wilkinson in October of 2008 on a field trip to the Engine 38 firehouse. When they learned this year that he was serving in Iraq, the students made him the focus of a service learning project for which they created holiday cards and sent care packages to Wilkinson’s unit.
“They wrote every one of us a letter, and that was really nice,” said Sgt. Wilkinson. “We really needed that.”
Joining Wilkinson for the visit was fellow Air Force officers and local firefighters Technical Sergeant Edwin Ortiz of the Buffalo Fire investigation Unit and Staff Sergeant Daniel Coleman, a volunteer firefighter from Wheatfield.
The men spent nearly half a year stationed at the Kirkuk Air Base, where they worked to train Iraqi army members and civilians in firefighting procedures. “War isn’t just about fighting,” Sgt. Wilkinson told the children. “It’s also about rebuilding. We went over to help these people get their infrastructure in order.” The care packages sent by the children reflected the soldiers’ main message to the children: We’ve all got to take care of each other.
View a gallery of images from their visit here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/elmwoodfranklin/sets/72157623234422633/
