Warrior-turned-corporal talks to MES students
Sports reporter
Ginger Becker's fourth grade class had a visitor Friday.
The visitor is from Marion, but she has spent the last eight months in Iraq.
Corporal Tamra Holub of the 369 Transportation Unit of the U.S. Army Reserves, shared her experiences in the Middle East.
Before Cpl. Holub could begin, the students said the Pledge of Allegiance and sang "Proud to be an American" while waving American flags.
Holubs' eyes began to tear up as she listened to the kids sing.
"Kids like this are very impressionable.," she said. "I just want them to get the right idea about the U.S. and the military."
Holub told stories to the kids about different people she encountered, and stressed that everything they see on the news isn't always true.
"I want the world to see what we're doing over there and I want them to realize it needs to be done no matter what people say."
The children asked questions about her camp, the enemy, and the types of animals she encountered.
One story in particular that stunned the kids was of a young Iraqi boy who dragged a dead dog across a street filled with explosives.
She explained that while the desert has dust storms and dust tornadoes called, "dust devils," there is more green there than people think.
"It's really beautiful," she said of some parts of Iraq.
She told them about the 35-pound protective gear her unit must wear, and how they are helping Iraqi children go to school.
"We give out candy," Holub said. "But what the children really like are pens and pencils."
That, Holub says, is because with the American troop's help, children who have never been to school now have the freedom to learn.
Holub explained even with the opportunity to go to school, most schools in Iraq lack the supplies we have in America. So Becker's class filled a bag with school supplies for Holub to bring back to the Iraqi children.
Holub said the children would love the gifts, and reminded the kids to never take what they had for granted.
She also told them leaving her family to fight for her country was one of the hardest things she's ever had to do. It is worth it, she said, but when she arrived back in the United States last week, she had one thing on her mind.
"I had my dad take me straight to Arby's," she told the kids.
Holub will head back to Iraq Thursday to continue to fight for her country. She is scheduled to return in March.
