Chief Warrant Officer Gary Amatrudo spent a year in Iraq flying missions in a Blackhawk helicopter. It was a year he described as often difficult and lonely for him and his fellow soldiers, but one of the things that really helped boost morale was receiving letters and packages; not only from their own families but also from generous Americans expressing their support, like Mrs. Irene O’Reilly’s class at Manchester Township Middle School. Amatrudo said he appreciated their holiday letters so much that he wrote back and promised to visit them upon his return to New Jersey.
Fulfilling his promise, Amatrudo recently spent a few hours talking to Mrs. O’Reilly’s students about his experiences in Iraq, answering questions from a list that the students had prepared in advance.
“How as it?” asked one student.
“It was hard, it was very long, very hot and very lonely at times,” Amatrudo answered. “But you make the best of a bad situation, that’s how you survive.”
Several students wanted to know if it was hard to learn to fly a helicopter. He said the training wasn’t too hard, as long you listened and paid attention to what they were teaching you.
Amatrudo chuckled when he read the question, “Do you think it will be hard to be a civilian again?”
“No, it will be very easy to become a civilian again,” he replied, smiling. “I really don’t think I’ll have a problem with that.”
He described what daily life was like as he showed slides of the camp. Besides the obvious dangers of being in a war zone, some of the things the soldiers had to deal with included sweltering in the brutal heat while wearing heavy protective gear, having sand everywhere, and monstrous bugs (he showed a picture of a spider nearly the size of a man’s hand!).
Showing photos of piles of goodies received at the camp, Amatrudo said that the items – candy, snacks, footballs, video games and more – were things the troops wouldn’t have without the people at home being so generous. He urged everyone to continue their support. “It really means a lot,” he said.
