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Story and
Photos By Sgt. Waldemar Rivera
2nd SBCT PAO, 25th Inf. Div., MND-B
CAMP TAJI,
Iraq – Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers from 225th
Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team
“Warrior,” 25th Infantry Division, and Iraqi Army Soldiers
from 1st Battalion, 34th Brigade, 9th Infantry Division,
handed out school supplies and toys April 13 to the children
at the Asim Bin Omar School in Sab al Bour, northwest of
Baghdad. The purpose of Operation Bounty
Hunter Pencil was to bring school supplies and toys to
students of two schools near the city of Taji, said 2nd Lt.
Lauren Bowen, a native of Roscoe, Ill., and platoon leader
with Company A, 225th BSB.
The convoy left in the morning toward the Asim Bin Omar
School, near Taji, where they were joined by a group
soldiers from the IA
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Second Lt. Lauren Bowen, a native of
Roscoe, Ill., and platoon leader with Company A, 225th
Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team
“Warrior,” 25th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division –
Baghdad, hands out school supplies April 13 at the Asim Bin
Omar School in Sab al Bour, northwest of Baghdad, during
Operation Bounty Hunter Pencil. The mission was shared with
Iraqi Army soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 34th Brigade,
9th Infantry Division.
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After a short conversation with the
school administrator, the group was led into classrooms to
hand over school supplies and toys to the children of the
school.
“These toys were sent to you, children,
with lots of love from the American people,” said Bowen,
from the front of the classroom to the children.
Soldiers from the U.S. Army and the IA
group both helped with the distribution of the toys and
school supplies among the rows of children in the
classrooms. After the distribution of gifts was done, and
after a signal from the teacher, the children said out loud:
“thank you very much,” as a token of friendship.
Sgt. 1st Class Yvonne Barnes, a Lane,
S.C., native, said it was an honor to deliver American goods
from our American children to the Iraqi children.
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An Iraqi child
holds tight to her doll April 13 while her mother
holds her at the Asim Bin Omar School in Sab al Bour,
northwest of Baghdad. The child just received her
new doll as part of Operation Bounty Hunter Pencil.
The operation brought together Soldiers from the
225th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Stryker Brigade
Combat Team “Warrior,” 25th Infantry Division,
Multi-National Division – Baghdad, and Iraqi Army
soldiers from 1st Battalion 34th Brigade 9th
Infantry Division. Together they handed out toys and
school supplies to children.
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“It was my first contact with Iraqi
children, and I was impressed of how well the children
verbalized English phrases such as ‘thank you very much,’”
said Barnes, the operations sergeant for Headquarters and
Headquarters Company, 225th BSB.
Then the convoy headed toward the That Al
Natakhein School, also at the town of Sab Al Bour, where
phase two of the mission took place. Toys and school
supplies were distributed among the students by Soldiers
from both armies once again under the supervision of school
officials.
The event was closed with a promise from
Bowen to return to both schools with more gifts from the
American people.
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Sgt. 1st Class Yvonne Barnes, a Lane,
S.C., native, talks to a child April 13 at the Asim
Bin Omar School in Sab al Bour, northwest of
Baghdad. Barnes, along with members of her unit and
soldiers from the Iraqi Army, handed out school
supplies and toys to children as part of Operation
Bounty Hunter Pencil. Barnes serves as an operations
sergeant with Headquarters and Headquarters Company,
225th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Stryker Brigade
Combat Team “Warrior,” 25th Infantry Division,
Multi-National Division – Baghdad.
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"We will remain dedicated that your Army in the Pacific is prepared with the
right training, the right equipment and the preservation of the nation's
greatest resource -- our sons and daughters and their families."
