Alcester Union & Hudsonite Online

Students learn life lesson, help bring troops home
By Paul Buum, Editor/Publisher
Alcester-Hudson Elementary School students gave a check for over $1,200 to the South Dakota National Guard representative Sgt. Matt Hanson (seated front row center behind check) during an assembly program Dec. 17 in the school gym. The students raised the money, with help from the Alcester Community Foundation and the Alcester Beta Sorority, to help charter an airplane to bring members of B Battery of the South Dakota National Guard home for the holidays before their year-long deployment to Iraq. (Photo by Paul Buum, Editor/Publisher)

ALCESTER – Students at the Alcester-Hudson Elementary School recently learned one of life’s great lessons, one that is especially true during the holiday season. The lesson? It is always better to give than to receive.
With the student’s help, members of B Battery of the South Dakota Army National Guard will return home this Saturday to spend time with their families during Christmas.
It all started in late October when the 185 members of the South Dakota Army National Guard B Battery, 1st Battalion, 147th Field Artillery, shipped out for training to Camp Shelby, Mississippi, in preparation of their year-long deployment to Iraq. B Battery has units in Sioux Falls, Mitchell, Salem, Tea, Watertown and Yankton.
During their year in Iraq, B Battery will serve as a convoy security detail. With the threat of IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices), snipers, and all-out assaults by insurgents, convoy security is a dangerous, and sometimes fatal, assignment.
While at Camp Shelby members of B Battery asked the Army if they could have a short furlough over the holidays so they could return to South Dakota to be with their families. The Army granted their request, but said that the soldiers would have to pay their own transportation expenses home and back. Naturally, the soldiers of B Battery were excited about the news, but many simply couldn’t afford the extra expense, especially during the holidays.
Dave Billion of the Billion Automotive Group in Sioux Falls heard of the soldier’s plights and asked for help from residents throughout the region. Billion Automotive offered to make a substantial donation to help pay for a chartered plane to bring the soldiers home, if others would also help raise funds to accomplish the goal.
Alcester-Hudson students took up the challenge, and at a special assembly program Monday morning, handed a check to Sgt. Matt Hanson of the South Dakota National Guard, in the amount of $1,284.93. The students raised nearly $700, while the Alcester Community Foundation donated $400, and the Alcester Beta Sorority donated $200.
All together, around $120,000 needed to be raised in order to get the troops home. With the public’s help, including that of the Alcester-Hudson elementary students, over $140,000 was raised.
So what made the students’ fundraiser so special? They did it all with loose change.
Elementary teacher Linda Merrick has a brother-in-law who is a member of the B Battery, and she offered up the challenge to the students. The “Make Your Change Count” program was simple: look around the house and gather up any loose change the students could find – under sofa cushions, in the car’s glove box, on a dresser, wherever they could find it.
The students made a contest out of it to see which class could raise the most money. The 6th grade class won the contest, bringing in just under $120 in change, followed closely by the 2nd grade class.
“This is one of the best gifts you could give the National Guard guys and gals because now they get to come home for Christmas,” elementary principal Jerry Joachim told the students.
Joachim said the school always tries to promote patriotism, and this challenge was a great way to do it.
The students’ sense of pride was evident as student council members unveiled an oversized check written to the South Dakota National Guard, and presented it to Sgt. Hanson while “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” played in the background.
It was a special moment for Sgt. Hanson as well. He is a member of the National Guard unit based in Vermillion, and his younger brother, Sean, is a member of B Battery.
“I can tell you that there is no greater feeling for a soldier than when you step off that airplane when you return home and get to hug your family,” Sgt. Hanson said, and again thanked the students for their efforts. As a special thank you, Sgt. Hanson said he would return on Tuesday morning with hot chocolate and cookies, which brought on cheers of delight from the students.
To cap off the assembly program students and teachers, most of them dressed in red, white and blue, rose to their feet, crossed their hearts, and sang the Star Spangled Banner for their special guest.
After the assembly program several of the students were interviewed by Sioux Falls television stations KELO and KDLT. A video clip of the event can be seen on the KELO-Land website at http://www.keloland.com/NewsDetail6162.cfm?Id=0,64387.
A chartered Boeing 727 will now bring B Battery members home for the holidays. The airplane is schedule to arrive in Sioux Falls this Saturday and return to Mississippi the day after Christmas. The soldiers will remain at Camp Shelby for a few days as they make final preparations for their deployment to Iraq.
The remaining funds from the campaign will be held in reserve to help pay for any travel expenses for B Battery soldiers who may need to return home for family emergencies while they are stationed in Iraq.
As for the students, they received a special gift of their own, knowing that their efforts made the holidays even more special for some South Dakota soldiers and their families.

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