I wonder if elementary schools in more liberal areas are doing anything similar. My local public school started a pen-pal program between fifth-graders and a local Marine serving in Iraq. He recently came home and visited the school to much excitment and applause.

The Pen Pal from Iraq

Since October, the students were writing to Adam Gonzalez, a 22-year-old Marine sergeant stationed in Iraq, and listened as their teacher read his e-mailed replies to the class. They talked about what it meant to be a soldier. They sent him two care packages full of magazines, toothpaste and other toiletries, along with a Barksdale T-shirt so that, some days, he could dress just like them.

And for 45 minutes that Monday, the students wanted to show Adam what their letters and packages couldn't quite tell: their appreciation for him as he fought for freedom and as he wrote to their class.