Low-key visit turns into big day for S/Sgt. Crawford
Staff writer
Staff Sergeant Christopher Crawford thought he'd just make a quiet, low-key visit this past Friday to Marion Elementary School.
He planned to stick his head into Ginger Becker's fourth grade classroom, thank the students for writing letters to him and his troop, the 10th Military Police Company, and leave.
But there's no such thing as "low-key" when a soldier returns to his home area after serving in a war zone.
"It was a little more than I expected," said Crawford, a native of Florence. "But I thought it was wonderful."
Arriving in Becker's classroom, Crawford was greeted by the students waving flags and singing along to "God Bless the U.S.A."
Students also recited the Pledge of Allegiance and the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States in his honor.
"I was extremely surprised to hear the kids recite the Preamble," Crawford said. "I was so impressed."
As a child, Crawford attended Marion Elementary School and is a 1990 Marion High School graduate. Returning to Marion Elementary was nostalgic for both Crawford and many others at the school including two of his former teachers, Marj Sandberg and Linda Allison, who came to greet him.
Crawford was in Marion County visiting his aunt and uncle, Florence residents Carolyn and Rex Savage. Crawford and his wife, Stacey, a Newton High School graduate, are visiting family in Kansas while Christopher is on vacation through May 24.
Stationed at Fort Drum, N.Y., headquarters for the 10th Military Police Co., and 10th Mountain Division, Crawford has been serving in Afghanistan. He was deployed in July 2003, and returned to the States earlier this month
"At one point, Carolyn asked us to pray for her nephew who was in the war," Becker said, explaining how the letter writing campaign came about. "And that's when we got the idea to send letters to him and the men in his unit."
Crawford said when he received a large yellow envelope full of letters from Marion Elementary fourth graders he was "really surprised."
"I passed out the letters to my soldiers. They thought they were pretty funny and were pleased to get them," Crawford said.
While still in Afghanistan preparing to return to the States, Crawford contacted his aunt Carolyn to see if he could talk to the kids.
"She said the school was fine with that. I thought I'd walk in and say a quick thanks on behalf of me and my soldiers," he said. "But instead I got a surprise!"
After the preliminary festivities and before enjoying refreshments, Crawford sat down with Becker's fourth graders to answer some of their questions.
When one student asked what it was like to be in a war, Crawford said it was "stressful at times" although other times it was like a regular day at work.
"They're not shooting at you every single day," he said.
Crawford said his unit's mission was to provide security and support humanitarian aid. That included dispensing medical assistance.
"Some of that was to kids your age," he told the fourth graders.
One student expressed an interest in sandstorms and the weather. Crawford explained the dust was "very fine, like brown talcum powder," and said the temperature was hot — sometimes nearly 120 degrees F. He noted the helmet and flack jacket they wore easily added "up to 20 more degrees."
"I got sunburned a lot," said the blue-eyed, fair-complected Crawford.
Daily life for children living in Afghanistan is different than the life children in Marion and Florence experience.
"There are no schools like this," he said. "If they have anything it's a tent with a chalkboard and a globe. After the fall of the Taliban, they started opening schools for girls because the Taliban had forbidden girls to attend school."
Crawford said living conditions also are different.
"Imagine if your home was no larger than this room. It's made out of mud. There's no running water, no toilet, no kitchen. The stove looks something like a barbecue grill. There's no electricity, no Playstation, no Internet. Your bed is a few blankets on the floor," he said.
"You probably spend a lot of time helping your father who is a farmer and for recreation you play soccer," he added. "And you probably herd sheep."
Children in Afghanistan also were very intrigued by American soldiers.
"If we'd stop to take a break we'd have 50 kids around the vehicle asking for chocolate or ballpoint pens," he said. "They really liked ballpoint pens."
Another student asked if he had seen "camel spiders." Crawford said he had, noting they were "this big" while forming his two hands into a big "O" about the size of a saucer.
"I've never been bitten, but they just bite you to get blood," he said. "They're like mosquitoes."
Responding to a question about enemy troops, Crawford explained it was difficult to tell who was "friend or foe."
"It's not like other wars where you have a clearly-defined enemy. With terrorism, the enemy dresses just like everyone else. They can be walking down the road and you'd never know it," he said. "It's a really delicate thing over there."
Crawford further noted some Taliban fighters were known to wear American uniforms.
"Our uniforms are not hard to get," he said.
Perhaps the question which garnered the most interest was about bathroom facilities. One fourth grader asked whether people in Afghanistan used outhouses.
"Nope," Crawford replied. "There are a lot of big fields out there."
"Ewww," the fourth-graders replied.
Later Friday afternoon, Crawford visited Marion High School to visit one of the classes his niece, Rebecca Savage, attends.
"After I finished at the elementary school I went to the high school. There, they had called an all-school assembly," he said. "And they had bathroom questions, too."
Crawford said he "was not going back to Afghanistan right now," but indicated that when he was deployed again it would probably be to Iraq.
As for his future plans, Crawford would like to go back to college. Then he hopes to apply to airborne school and "learn to parachute out of airplanes," he told the fourth graders. "Then apply for drill sergeant school."
