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Lakeland students provide shoes for Iraqi counterparts

Nov-18-2005 » Filed Under: 172nd SBCT

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News Staff Reporter

Putting on his Spiderman shoes always made Clayton Chenoweth feel like a superhero.

It was a sad day when his feet grew too big for them, but the 9-year-old is happy again, knowing that his sneakers could someday make an Iraqi child feel the same way.

"I've never been there before, but I want to help them," Clayton said. "Kids in Iraq have no shoes and they have to walk on the ground barefoot everywhere."

The beloved Spiderman shoes are among 200 pair collected by Lakeland Elementary School third-graders for children in war-ravaged Mosul, Iraq. Leah Ray, a special education aide, will send them to her son, U.S. Army Cpl. Mason Tinsley, who's serving his second tour of duty in the Middle East.

"He doesn't want us to send him anything for himself,'' Ray said. "All he wants is shoes for the kids. It's a very harsh environment there.''

Tinsley's wife, Jammie, sent three boxes of Band-Aids with him when he left Fort Wainwright, Alaska, near Fairbanks, to serve in Mosul. He's used every one of them on the children's feet, Ray said.

When he learned of Lakeland's desire to help, Tinsley sent third-graders a letter telling them of the sharp rocks, broken glass, blistering hot sand and unexploded bombs barefooted children in Mosul must pick their way through.

"I don't feel as though I can just turn my back to this,'' Tinsley wrote.


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