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Army major reaches out from Iraq

Apr-10-2006 » Filed Under: 172nd SBCT

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By J.E. Espino, Post-Crescent

TOWN OF MENASHA — At the McNamee home, tuning to television news for the latest developments unfolding in Iraq is secondary.

Because for real-time news and personal briefings, Lori McNamee and her two girls, Nikki, 11, and Liz, 7, can either exchange e-mails or do Instant Messaging and Webcam viewings with husband and dad, Maj. Dale McNamee.

Since his deployment in September, he has been serving with the Alaska-based unit 172nd Infantry Stryker Brigade Combat team in Iraq. The family has come to understand they can't exclusively rely on what they see on TV for a full picture of events overseas.

Simply put, his accounts of life on the streets of Mosul present a brighter perspective than that offered in the evening news. And he's got a gift for writing to young audiences.

"He comes back with stuff we can understand," said Nikki.

So when he e-mailed his younger daughter's first-grade teacher at Springs Road Elementary School in Neenah inquiring how she was adjusting, it didn't take very long for Karen Martis to invite him to participate in the class' weekly computer lab lesson. Every Tuesday, the class e-mails him a series of questions, such as his safety and the eating customs in Iraq.

"It's the most educational part of my day," Martis said.

Soon after, he also was being asked if he could field questions from Nikki's peers at Shattuck Middle School.

"He gives us a chance to see that there are much better things happening than car bombs and explosions," said Wilson Rohrer, a 12-year-old in Peter Malchow's sixth-grade class.


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