At left: While on leave from serving in Iraq during Desert Storm in 1991, Brian Cahill made a surprise visit to his pen pal, Mandi Johnson, then a second grade student at St. Ignace Elementary School. (Johnson family photograph) A school lesson handed out 17 years ago made an impression on Mandi Johnson, then a second grade student at St. Ignace Elementary School. A class project had her assigned to correspond with Brian Cahill, a U.S. Marine from St. Ignace serving in Desert Storm in Iraq.

"I was young, but I looked up to him as a hero to me," said Ms. Johnson. "Any of them are heroes to me, but him writing back to me, I guess, it made it that much more special."

Now, as the language arts teacher at St. Ignace Middle School, she has given the same assignment to her students, to correspond with Lieutenant Commander Cahill, who again is serving in Iraq. He is in the U.S. Navy and stationed in Iraq until October.

"I want my kids to write because I know how special it was to me as a student to write to him and receive letters back."

Sixth grade students at St. Ignace Middle School are corresponding with the same soldier their teacher, Mandi Johnson, wrote to 17 years ago. Students pictured who are writing to Lieutenant Commander Brian Cahill, a former St. Ignace resident, are (front row, from left) Olivia Wyers, Gabe Davis, Whitney Matson, Margo Brown, Andy Sheber, Robin Chargo, Autumn Orm; (second) Erisa Crystal, Matt Wyers, Aryianna Dickensheets, Cooper Johnston, Brian Harju, Ryan Litzner, Alexis Tribfelner, Brandon Oja, Jared Fenlon, Anthoney Rickley; (third) Dillion Adams, Dalton L'Allier, Angela Donajkowski; (back) Morgan Ray, Skylar Gubanche, Meghan Casey, Noah Damron, Breaunna Joseph, Keegan Fulgenzi, Madysin Lee, Mallory Johnston, Sarah Smith, Micaela O'Rourke, Cameron Collier, Jeff Bailey, and Jason Brown. Missing from the photograph are Taylor Causley, Sharman Colegrove, Tim Coolbaugh, Aaron Downs, Paige Williams, and Lisa Worden. Beginning in 1991, the two exchanged many letters. As a young girl, Ms. Johnson wrote about her family and her pet beagles. While home on leave at Christmas that year, Mr. Cahill personally thanked her for the letters and gave her a Marine Corps teddy bear and T-shirt.

Mandi Johnson, St. Ignace Middle School language arts teacher, holds letters and the U.S. Marine Corps bear her pen-pal Lieutenant Commander Brian Cahill gave her in 1991, during his first tour of duty in Iraq. At that time, Miss Johnson was a second grade student in St. Ignace. "I can remember it still to this day," said Ms. Johnson. "It was just very heartwarming that he cared that much."

The meeting was memorable for Mr. Cahill, too. Wearing a Marine Corps dress blue uniform, white hat, and gloves, he made the trip to the Johnson home with his mother. The visit was planned, although Ms. Johnson did not know it.

"I will never forget the look of surprise and awe on Mandi's smiling face," he said, when she saw him wearing the Marine uniform.

"Needless to say, meeting Mandi made a lasting impression on me and it remains one of the memorable and heartwarming experiences of my life. Little did I know that the impression I made on Mandi was a never-ending one, as well," he said.

A 1984 LaSalle High School graduate, Lieutenant Commander Brian Cahill stands in front of the Al Faw Palace in Baghdad. The building serves as headquarters for the Multi National Forces - Iraq and houses LCDR Cahill's office. (Photograph courtesy of Brian Cahill) Eventually the two stopped corresponding. He followed her high school basketball career by reading newspaper articles, and over the years, through family and friends, Ms. Johnson tracked his military career. She kept his letters, the pictures he sent, and the bear he gave her that one Christmas. Now they fill a bulletin board in her classroom, along with new pictures and copies of his messages to her students.

When not serving overseas, LCDR Cahill lives in Los Angeles.

In Baghdad, he is the deputy chief in the foreign disclosure office, which is in Al Faw Palace, the headquarters for the Multi National Forces - Iraq.

The foreign disclosure office receives requests from foreign governments or international organizations for classified information. The office determines if the requests for classified information or sensitive material are approved or disapproved.

After seeing a photograph of Mr. Cahill serving in Baghdad in The St. Ignace News, Ms. Johnson decided to contact him with her idea for a student writing project.

Ms. Johnson mailed her students' letters to Iraq, along with a picture of each of them, in time to arrive in Baghdad just before Christmas.

"I was extremely surprised when, just prior to this past Christmas, I received a small package in Iraq containing a beautiful letter from Mandi and letters from each of her sixth grade students," said LCDR Cahill. "A picture was attached to each letter so I could see the beautiful faces and smiles of each of Mandi's students, who wrote wonderful letters to me."

On Christmas day, she received an e-mail from Mr. Cahill letting her know the letters had arrived.

"It was probably the best Christmas present I've ever received," she said of his e-mail. "It was knowing he was fine."

In their letters, the St. Ignace students asked about everything from the weather to food, and said they were concerned if there was anything he needed. They wanted to know if soft drinks were available to him, if he had air-conditioning that worked, if he could have a cell phone, and if American television shows are available. The answers were all yes, and the class spent two days talking about them, said Ms. Johnson.

Student Sarah Smith said writ- ing to Mr. Cahill was a good experience. She enjoyed hearing the story about her teacher writing to him when she was younger and was excited to have the opportunity to write him, too.

"I thought that was cool and I thought that it would be a really great thing for us, too, to write to him so he would have more comfort knowing that there were people who cared for him here," said Miss Smith.

She said she learned that he is helping the country without fighting.

"It was a very good experience to know that people can fight for us, even if they are not fighting," she said.

Another student, Robin Chargo, was also impressed. He likes communicating with someone in Iraq and learning about Mr. Cahill's job. He would recommend other students also write to soldiers.

"I've never even known anyone who has gone off to war," said student Micaela O'Rourke. "And I've never asked anybody so many questions. We all got to experience that, and that was really, really cool."

Added her teacher, "He told us a lot about what he does and actually how good his job is, how he is not in a life-threatening situation right now like other people are. So that's nice to know."

Some of the students were surprised to learn their parents know Brian Cahill. Brandon Oja's father played football with him at LaSalle High School, Robin Chargo's father knows him, and Sarah Smith's mother, Tammy, was graduated with him.

The students enjoyed the experience so much, said Ms. Johnson, some now want to correspond with him on their own.

In October when his tour of duty in Iraq ends and before he returns to California, Brian Cahill said he hopes to be able to visit St. Ignace and meet the students, who then will be in the seventh grade.