TAMPA, Fla. \u2014 Appreciation is just one of the words that comes to mind for several Cambridge Christian middle schoolers during their letter-writing campaign for veterans.<\/p>\n
What You Need To Know<\/p>\n
Cambridge Christian middle schoolers wrote letters to veterans
\n
The letters are part of the school’s “Love Thy Neighbor” campaign
\n
Letters will be distributed by the Camaraderie Foundation<\/p>\n
For each letter there\u2019s a special meaning for students like 13-year-old Bentley Bazzel and 12-year-old Sophia Boone, who have veterans in their family.<\/p>\n
This is a portion of both their letters:<\/p>\n
\u201cDear veteran, thank you so much for your service and sacrifices for our country and my freedom. I hope you feel proud of what you have done,\u201d Bentley wrote.<\/p>\n
\u201cDear veteran, my name is Sophia and I\u2019m in 7th grade. I wanted to write this letter to thank you for all you have done for our country,\u201d Sophia wrote.<\/p>\n
For Cambridge Christian School civics teacher Matt Richie, this is a lesson for him and his students.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had a father that served in the Korean War. He just turned 92 two weeks ago. He served Korea, came home, had eight children. He put food on the table, shoes on our feet, clothes on our back, fostered two more children,\u201d Richie said.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s what a hero looks like for him and for these students diligently writing, so he knew how important it was to bring in a hero for them to meet.<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst of all, let me thank you for these letters,\u201d retired U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Kent Lightner said to Richie\u2019s class. \u201cI was serving in Iraq in 2008 when I got a bunch of letters similar to the ones that you are writing, and everybody was pretty excited and motivated that there were school children that were thinking of us and appreciated the sacrifice we were giving on behalf of our nation.\u201d<\/p>\n