LMS students finally meet pen pal from war

Published 4:00 pm Saturday, June 16, 2007

LANGLEY — It was a red, white and blue welcome.

Navy Chief Petty Officer Ray Griffith got a hero’s homecoming at SeaTac International Airport Thursday as he was greeted by a group of Langley Middle School students decked out in red, white and blue hats.

The students said it was easy to spot their pen pal, the sailor the kids grew to know during a year-long exchange of letters and cards between Whidbey and Afghanistan.

“We recognized him right away,” said Norah Helley. “He was the only one in the brown suit.”

Griffith was donning his Navy khakis when he arrived. But even without the uniform, Norah was confident they would have found each other.

“But we had signs and stuff. He would have recognized us sooner or later,” she explained.

Griffith was already impressed with the welcome to Washington, but he got a real taste of Whidbey Island hospitality once he got to Langley.

Before going to the middle school, the children loaded their visitor onto a South Whidbey fire truck at the fairgrounds, a special treat for Griffith, who is a fireman at home in Arizona.

Hundreds of students lined the sidewalk along Camano Avenue as Griffith approached on the fire truck. Some held homemade banners decorated with U.S. flags.

“We love you, Ray!” screamed eighth-grader Tyler Norris.

The celebration continued Thursday evening with the first-ever Langley Middle School Community Potluck Dinner.

The kids had decorated the cafeteria in red, white and blue and parents and community members had brought in lots of food.

“We decorated all afternoon,” Stephanie Otteman said. “We even have a red carpet,” she added pointing to the hallway floor lined in red paper.

Once Griffith arrived, the kids presented him with a final care package with balloons, stuffed animals and a card.

Then it was time to eat. Griffith made his way along a potluck that had so much to offer — lasagna, enchiladas, cold cuts, barbecue ribs, desserts galore — that organizers ran out of room and had to bring in a service cart so there would be more space to stack food.

After dinner Griffith addressed a crowd of more than 80 people; children, parents and friends.

He told the audience that his wife and daughters had a problem with him visiting Whidbey Island just after coming home from his 15-month deployment to the war in Afghanistan.

But he said he simply had to come to Langley to thank the kids in person.

“The sincerity of their cards touched my heart,” Griffith said. “I had to thank these kids in person.

“When I come back Saturday evening and look my kids, my wife in the face, I can honestly say that my tour is over,” he added.

Griffith said he was touched by the children’s desire to lend support to a total stranger.

“What’s going on here right now, I wish would go on all over this country,” he said about his welcome.

Griffith told the crowd he wanted to talk about the war, but not about politics.

“I went over there to do a job,” he said.

Griffith told the children about him living on a base that was only as big as four football fields put together.

Only 100 Americans lived at Forward Operating Base Apache in Qalat, and he recalled his first firefight when the base was attacked by Taliban fighters.

Griffith also said he learned from the Afghans the importance of family, and the values that guide the Afghan people.

“It comes down to putting food on the table and family comes above all,” he said. “They are very resilient people. They don’t need anything else but food on the table and family itself.”

The message he wanted to share most, he said, was how grateful he was to live in the United States.

“By God, we have the best county in the world,” he said. “We’ve got it great, guys.”

After Griffith’s speech, the kids had more surprises in store. John Thompson performed a song that he had written, with a little help from his dad, for returning troops.

Singing “Welcome home. Our freedom is paid by you” the youngster impressed Griffith and the rest of the audience alike.

Principal Rod Merrell presented Griffith with a Cougar sweater, because coming from Arizona, Griffith wasn’t ready for Whidbey’s colder weather.

On Friday, Griffith again visited the middle school and talked during a school assembly about Afghanistan and his service in the country.

The students’ friendship with the sailor began a year ago, after a sixth-grade class made Memorial Day cards to send to troops overseas.

Over the summer, letters and photos were exchanged and the youngsters forged a friendship with Griffith and Rick Rottman, a soldier with the Army National Guard who is deployed to Iraq.

Rottman plans to visit the school in September.