How did a letter from a second-grader bring a man to Howard Elementary School in Wisconsin all the way from North Carolina?
Retired Army Colonel Bill Hamilton ’78 visited Howard on November 30 to thank second-graders for their letters of appreciation. Green Bay native and active duty Lieutenant Colonel Rebecca Brawner wrote in to NBC 26 on November 29. She told us about her cousin; a second grade teacher in Howard, whose class has been writing thank you notes to veterans for years. And, on November 30, one of the recipients of those letters came a long way to show their appreciation.
“I hope they take away that they can be anything they want to be,” Hamilton said after his visit Thursday.
Hamilton doesn’t have an education background, but, in front of the second grade classes that wrote those letters all eyes were on him.
“I was so moved by the letter. A kid named Skylar wrote me a letter, I looked at it [and] I said ‘Man, we got to do something to thank these kids,’” Hamilton told members of the local media. “I’m a firm believer in in-person engagement … The way to make the biggest impact on them is to actually come over and put on my uniform.”
