Sgt. John McCluskey returns to thank the class

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[A soldier on Thursday greeted the class of pupils whose letters cheered him during his time serving in Iraq.

Sgt. John McCluskey of the 90th Sustainment Brigade of the U.S. Army Reserves shipped out July 8, 2009, and returned home March 1.

The second grade classmates of his daughter, Brittany McCluskey, sent McCluskey letters, photographs and cards.

"What was really cool about the time I was in Iraq was I knew I got to look forward to letters and those were letters from you guys," McCluskey said.

"I got a box of Christmas cards and I smiled."

He also received letters from his wife, Stephanie, and care packages from churches.

"That makes a soldier feel very, very special when people say they miss you -- even though they don't know you -- because that means you're a friend," McCluskey said.

McCluskey gave the kids a certificate of his appreciation, gave a special certificate to teacher Melissa Brinkley, gave them a United States flag that had been in Iraq and showed the pupils the proper folding of the flag.

Most of the kids shared their family members had served in the military. Many said they had grandfathers who had served in World War II. After the stories -- about whose ancestors had been in tanks and whose had jumped from airplanes -- they asked McCluskey a few questions about his experiences.

McCluskey signed up for the reserves in 1985 and said he is soon to retire.

He explained his uniform was of a pattern called digitized camouflage and his uniform distinguishes his branch of the military from the Navy, Marines and Air Force.

One boy asked if he had saved anyone's life. McCluskey said he had not directly been involved in any combat, had not fired his weapon at anyone, had not had grenades thrown at him and had not ridden in tanks. But because of the work of the Army and his fellow soldiers, many were saved in that the people can now vote without fearing for their lives.

"Before we went to Iraq the people who won elections were the ones who had the most guns. What the U.S. military did was we took the guns away from them so they could get to vote for who they want," McCluskey said.

He said the might-makes-right crowd tried again to intimidate their way to power, but it did not work.

"They tried again. They said vote for use or we're going to blow something up. You know what the people did? They said, 'Phooey on you,'" McCluskey said.

He said the government is now free and the people "don't have to worry about anybody being mean to them.

"So you ask did I save anybody's life? Yes, I did. But I didn't get to go out and save anybody from bullets," McCluskey said.

McCluskey said he spent most of his eight months behind a computer. He and his fellow soldiers were in potential danger from enemy mortar rounds, but technology is now such that military guns shoot mortars in the air.

McCluskey invited the pupils into a group hug and posed for photos with the children behind the "Welcome Home" banner they designed for him.

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<li>DeNeal receives e-mail at bdeneal@yourclearwave.com.</li>

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