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Iraq War Vet Visits Student Correspondents

Jessica Bair/SUNCOAST

LT. COL. NORMAN FABIAN, above, holds an Iraq flag that he received while serving a 15- month stint in Iraq. Fabian told war stories to his pen pals from Bishop Larkin Catholic School last Friday after driving from Michigan to meet the fifth-graders.

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By Jessica  Bair | The Suncoast News

Published: October 3, 2007

PORT RICHEY, Fla. - PORT RICHEY, Fla. - Fifth-grade students watched intently as Lt. Col. Norman Fabian from the 378th Military Intelligence battalion shared war stories and memorabilia from a recent Iraq tour.

From November 2006 to May 2007, students from Bishop Larkin Catholic School in Port Richey wrote letters and e-mails to the Army officer every month.

Fabian, who was deployed with the 108th Infantry, spent a 15-month stint in Iraq in various cities like Baghdad, Talfar, and Kabul training Iraqi soldiers in military intelligence "to predict what the enemy had on the battlefield," he explained to reporters.

He wrote more than 300 letters over the course of six months, taking the time to respond to every child who wrote him and also sent them individual gifts like Iraqi money, badges and patches from a soldier's uniform.

Last Friday, Fabian, 44, traveled by car from his home in Warren, Michigan, with his mother Joyce to visit his petite pen pals on the Suncoast.

"I was homesick and your letters got me through the homesickness," he said thanking the children for their letters.

Some of the children sent him small tokens of affection like a charm from a necklace that he still carries with him today.

The military man, who is now on leave, quizzed the attentive students on American History, the draft and the Iraq war.

He told stories about saving an Iraqi boy's life and eating a sheep that was gifted to him by Iraqi soldiers that he now considers his brothers.

"Many of my Iraqi friends lost their lives for their country," he explained to the children crowded at his feet.

Fabian's military career started with his first tour at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, then a short deployment in the 1990-91 Gulf War and then most recently Iraq.

"The one thing he wanted to do was thank the kids for all the support they gave," said Jennifer Aitken, a Bishop Larkin parent and coordinator who helped start the letter-writing campaign at the school six years ago.

After the terrorists attacks on the World Trade Centers in New York, Sept. 11, 2001, Aitken's brother-in-law was deployed to the Philippines and the letter-writing exchange began with him, she said.

Each month Aitken mailed out the bundles of letters from the children and picked up packages sent from the soldiers to the children. They have written to more than 50 military units to date.

Fabian says he wrote to the children during his downtime in the evenings. "They (students) really gave me a courage I never thought I had," he explained. "The people back home make it worth doing this," he said of the war effort.

Fabian says it's difficult to reflect the culture of Iraq through stories so he brought items and a large posterboard full of photos to explain his experience.

"Their mindset is an IED was put out there to help their family, not to hurt you," he said about Iraqi civilians trying to survive in the Middle East.

An IED is an improvised explosive device, the military's term for the type of roadside bombs that have claimed the lives of so many U.S. military personnel in Iraq.

One boy raised his hand and asked, "When will the Iraq War be over?"

Fabian told the young man not for some time. He believes the United States has made progress in the war but thinks once the Iraq Army straightens out its challenged supply system even more progress can occur.

By the end of the question-and-answer session last Friday, even greater friendships had been forged.

As the soldier got up to leave, fifth-grader Katelyn Butler approached him to ask about her letters.

"I know your birthday was in February. I sent you a birthday card. Did you get it?" she asked him nervously.

"Yes, I really liked it," the decorated soldier said. "Thank you, I really appreciated it."

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