Cobbet kids finally meet soldier pen pal

LYNN – There was someone noticeably different walking around the hallways at Cobbet Elementary School on Tuesday.PFC Tony Syrakos of Lynn, who spent nine months in Afghanistan, visited his mother?s second-grade class dressed in his military camouflage fatigues.Syrakos became pen pals with the students in the class taught by Doris Syrakos, while serving in Afghanistan.He met his pen pals in person Tuesday during his two-week leave.?Their letters were great,” said Tony. “I was excited to meet them.”The students were also excited to meet Tony Syrakos.?He is their hero,” said the soldier?s mother. “They were so excited it was like they were meeting the president.”Doris Syrakos got the idea of having her students write to her son when she was working on her lesson plan for the school year.?I had to teach them geography and about different cultures. I have students from all different cultures so this came to mind,” she said. “I also had to teach them how to write letters. I thought why don?t we make it real and write to a real person. I just taught them the form of letter writing, but they wrote their own letters and they wrote some really wonderful letters. They put their hearts into them.”Tony Syrakos said he enjoyed receiving the letters because they reminded him of home.?It was good to see what was going on back home,” he said. “It was good to get some good news instead of crappy news all the time.”Many of the students asked him what life was like in Afghanistan in their letters.?They asked me things like, ?Where do you sleep, what do you eat and is it scary?,? ” he said.The students also learned about the harsh realities of war.?A lot of the boys at first thought it was cool to be a solider. I had to set them straight and let them know this isn?t guns and robbers. My son is doing his duty and putting his life on the line. He could be killed any day,” said Doris Syrakos.The students became concerned for the soldier?s safety after they began writing him.?They would see things on the news and ask if Tony was OK,” said Doris Syrakos. “It gave them more awareness that war is not cool.”The Lynn Classical High School graduate is headed back to Afghanistan in two weeks and hopes to finish his tour in August.?It has been very nice. It is good to be home,” he said. “It feels good not worrying about safety and stuff like that,” Tony Syrakos said.The students read two poems to Tony Syrakos that they are practicing for Memorial Day. He also signed autographs for all 28 students.?It is nice to see all the smiles on their faces,” he said.