March 29, 2012 (Sacramento):  Last Veteran’s Day, students at Hollywood Park Elementary School wrote letters to veterans thanking them for their service to the country.

On Friday, some of those veterans will return the gesture of gratitude by presenting the school with a $500 check – and a surprise for Principal Hamed Razawi.

Dr. Mariana Raba of the Disabled Veterans of America, Sacramento Chapter 6, says members of her organization were truly touched by the kids’ letters, some of which asked the veterans to come visit their school.

“Thank you so much for helping the world,” wrote one student. “You had to go through a lot of fighting. I’m so happy that the war is over and now everyone can come back home.”
Another student, an 11-year-old girl, wrote that her grandfather fought in Vietnam and that her brother was in the Young Marine Cobras of California, a youth education program for kids. “I appreciate that you fought in a war to protect our country,” she wrote.

Dr. Raba said the group will teach the students the proper way to fold the US flag and discuss what it means to be an American. A disabled veteran herself, Dr. Raba was a flight surgeon and Air Force major when her helicopter was shot down in Vietnam in 1970. She sustained numerous injuries and works tirelessly to help other disabled vets.
                                                                                                                                                                                
WHAT:                 Disabled American Veterans’ Presentation
WHEN:                 2:30 p.m., Friday, March 30
WHERE:               Hollywood Park Elementary School
                                4915 Harte Way, Sacramento, CA 95822