During a one-year Individual Augmentee tour with the Multinational Force in Baghdad, Lt. Paul Pukis, an officer assigned to Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing 10 staff, took time to deliver a little happiness from kids in the U.S. to kids in Iraq. Here is an e-mail he recently sent to the Wing:

Dear everyone,

I thought I would send a quick note with a few pictures to let you know some of the good stuff that is going on in Iraq. The pictures you see were taken on a trip to one of the local elementary schools here in Baghdad.

Several MNF soldiers, translators and an Iraqi general distributed gifts provided by my niece and her 3rd grade class in Washington state. Under her initiative, she and her classmates raised funds the old-fashioned way: they had their parents bake and do most of the work!

Their teacher, Lower School Head, and the school chaplain all got an earful from my niece, as she had to convince them to allow this project. With their permission, they held a bake sale and received $456 in donations.

Using the money, my niece and five of her classmates went to a local athletic store to purchase soccer balls. The soccer balls were a huge hit with the Iraqi children. Other gifts included stationery, crayons, markers, stuffed animals, dolls, coloring books, soccer jerseys and candy (lots of candy) and much more.

But giving the gifts was not the best part. The look on the faces of the kids is what made the trip. I hope the pictures turn out OK. My cameraman was distracted by the joy of distributing the gifts, but I am sure you all can visualize their faces.

Pure pleasure and satisfaction shines on the face of a child that has never been given anything and suddenly finds his or her arms full of presents from American kids. 

I would suspect the Iraqi children never knew what the word generosity meant until American children, half the globe away, defined it for them. Let’s just hope they grow up and remember what American kids and Coalition Forces have done for them.”

Paul Pukis