Soldier meets second graders who adopted him

It was difficult to tell who was more nervous, the serviceman or the group of second-graders.

Carolyn Risner

Dusty Cason and his many new friends at Chiefland Elementary.

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For more than an hour last week Dusty Cason answered questions from his penpals who all wanted to know more about his life in Iraq.

The students of Katie Corbin “adopted” Cason and this school year have kept him replete with letters from home and goody boxes.

Last week the soldier, on furlough, came by with his parents and grandparents to meet his new friends and answer their queries about the other side of the world.

Food and gaiety marked the morning as students presented Cason with baskets of Gator memorabilia and things to use in Iraq. Others read letters to him that had been bound by the teacher.

Principal Patrice McCully thanked Cason for his service and told him that giving the students a chance to meet a real hero was something they would never forget.