Atwater soldier visits sixth-grade pen pals

For most of the last school year, students in Tracy Hunter’s sixth-grade class at Bellevue Elementary School in Atwater wrote to an Army soldier in Afghanistan.

It was a way to boost his morale, pique their interest in current events and improve penmanship all at the same time.

Earlier this month they finally met him.

Aaron Osmer of Atwater spent about an hour with about 60 of Hunter’s current students and those from last year, answering questions and posing for pictures. The experience still brings their teacher to tears.

Osmer, 20, spent nine months in Afghanistan. An infantryman with the Army’s 101st Airborne, Air Assault Division, Osmer has been in the Army for 21/2 years and was part of a security force in the war-torn country.

Hunter said her 32 sixth-graders wrote a number of letters to Osmer and the 30 men in his platoon. She said the students are very interested in current events and the subject of freedom is always on their minds.

“This (Osmer’s appearance) was something brand-new for the school,” Hunter said. “The teachers were excited and everyone was pumped up about it. It brings tears to my eyes; the students were really excited.”

Hunter said her students held small American flags as camouflage-clad Osmer talked for about a half-hour in the gym and then posed for cellphone pictures. She said students were fascinated with the gear and weapons Osmer wore while on duty as well as the weather and conditions in Afghanistan.

“They had a lot of questions,” Osmer said. “They were real interested in weapons. It was a good time.”

Osmer is the son of Bill and Angelica Osmer of Atwater, family friends of Hunter.

This story was originally published December 14, 2014 at 5:14 PM with the headline "Atwater soldier visits sixth-grade pen pals."