- Reaction score
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http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2008/09/22/6837711-sun.html
Winnipeg soldier leaves legacy
Corporal wrote home to schoolchildren
By ROB NAY, SUN MEDIA
The Winnipeg Sun
A Winnipeg soldier killed in Afghanistan reached out to young schoolchildren across Canada shortly before his death, his mother learned recently.
"I just think it's very special. It's very touching," said Wendy Hayward-Miskiewicz.
Following the death of her son, Cpl. James Hayward Arnal, 25, she learned he had written letters to school children across Canada.
A teacher in B.C. contacted Hayward-Miskiewicz and let her know Arnal had written a letter to students to thank them for a parcel the children had sent to soldiers in Afghanistan.
The teacher mailed the letter to Hayward-Miskiewicz for her to see. Arnal had originally sent it to Grade 5 and 6 students in B.C. in the spring, less than three months before he was killed in July by a roadside bomb while on foot patrol in Afghanistan.
All of the young students wanted to read and hold Arnal's handwritten note, the teacher said.
In the letter, Arnal graciously thanks them for their support.
"It makes us happy knowing there are great Canadians such as yourself back at home supporting us in everything we do," Arnal wrote.
He also tells the students about the progress he observed in Afghanistan from his first tour in 2006 to his second tour in 2008.
"Now that I'm back I see improvements here. The locals seem happier -- they are definitely safer," he wrote.
Arnal told the students in the letter about the language and culture of Afghanistan and conveyed his observations of the development of the local army and police force.
"It's just a matter of time before they will be self-sufficient and we can come home," wrote Arnal.
Hayward-Miskiewicz was also recently contacted by a teacher in Saskatchewan about another batch of letters Arnal wrote to students there. She says she's comforted to learn how her son touched so many lives.
"He's gone, but he's made a huge impact on a lot of people," she said.
Winnipeg soldier leaves legacy
Corporal wrote home to schoolchildren
By ROB NAY, SUN MEDIA
The Winnipeg Sun
A Winnipeg soldier killed in Afghanistan reached out to young schoolchildren across Canada shortly before his death, his mother learned recently.
"I just think it's very special. It's very touching," said Wendy Hayward-Miskiewicz.
Following the death of her son, Cpl. James Hayward Arnal, 25, she learned he had written letters to school children across Canada.
A teacher in B.C. contacted Hayward-Miskiewicz and let her know Arnal had written a letter to students to thank them for a parcel the children had sent to soldiers in Afghanistan.
The teacher mailed the letter to Hayward-Miskiewicz for her to see. Arnal had originally sent it to Grade 5 and 6 students in B.C. in the spring, less than three months before he was killed in July by a roadside bomb while on foot patrol in Afghanistan.
All of the young students wanted to read and hold Arnal's handwritten note, the teacher said.
In the letter, Arnal graciously thanks them for their support.
"It makes us happy knowing there are great Canadians such as yourself back at home supporting us in everything we do," Arnal wrote.
He also tells the students about the progress he observed in Afghanistan from his first tour in 2006 to his second tour in 2008.
"Now that I'm back I see improvements here. The locals seem happier -- they are definitely safer," he wrote.
Arnal told the students in the letter about the language and culture of Afghanistan and conveyed his observations of the development of the local army and police force.
"It's just a matter of time before they will be self-sufficient and we can come home," wrote Arnal.
Hayward-Miskiewicz was also recently contacted by a teacher in Saskatchewan about another batch of letters Arnal wrote to students there. She says she's comforted to learn how her son touched so many lives.
"He's gone, but he's made a huge impact on a lot of people," she said.
