KIDS MAIL PACKAGES TO THE GULF

VALENTINES FOR THE TROOPS: Cape Girardeau Post Office employee Dean Farrow assists administrator Bonnie Nations and 22 students from Cape Christian School who are mailing five packages to six servicemen in Saudi Arabia. The packages contain Valentines, candy, gum and other items put together by 80 students who participated in the project at the school. (RAN PAGE 4A)

CAPE GIRARDEAU Val~entine greetings, containing everything from scripture to jokes and candy to Kool-Aid mix, are on their way to U.S. troops in the Persian Gulf.

About 20 youngsters, from pre-kindergarten to sixth grade at the Cape Christian School in Cape Girardeau, made a trip to the post office Tuesday to mail five packages containing valentine greetings.

The packages are destined for six men. Five of them are related to students and staff at the school and the sixth, Jim Hutson, attends Bethel Assembly of God Church, which operates the school.

All 80 students at the private school helped make the cards and fill the packages with everything from Life Savers candy to Blistex.

Some of the younger kids included drawings.

"They're really precious," said School Administrator Bonnie Nations. "The kids really care."

Not only did the students send Valentine cards to those six men, but they also sent extra cards to be passed out to other soldiers in those units.

"I think they are lonely over there," said fourth grade student Amanda Ratliff, whose father, Dale, is with a Naval Reserve unit stationed on Behring, an island in the Persian Gulf.

Amanda's sister, Missy, is in first grade at the school. In addition, two nieces of Dale Ratliff, fifth grader Lisa Serandos and second grader Amy Serandos, attend the school.

Of the packages, Lisa Serandos said, "We had a lot of fun doing it. Everybody made like five valentines apiece."

She said she was praying for her uncle's safety. "I just wrote him a little bit of a poem."

She added, "I'm hoping that Iraq will get out of Kuwait so he can come home."

Nations said one package was sent to both Dale Ratliff and Hutson, because they both serve in the same unit. "We sent our largest package to them because we were sure they would get it," said Nations.

Nations herself has a relative serving in the war. Her niece's husband, Billy Sullivan, who serves in the Army infantry, was deployed to the gulf last fall from Fort Campbell, Ky. He is now among the troops on the front lines in Saudi Arabia, Nations said.

Nations' daughter, Holly, is in fourth grade at Cape Christian School.

Holly said she was "happy" that the school was sending valentine greetings to troops in the gulf "so they will have a good Valentine's Day, too, like we are."

She said she was kind of "scared" about what might happen to the U.S. troops. "I'm kind of scared about the people if they go into the war and just die or something."

Fifth grader Lauren Young, who has a cousin, Carroll McAllister, serving in the gulf war, said she was worried about the safety of the troops.

"I know that some people are going to get hurt," said Lauren.

In one of the valentine cards she made, she wrote: "We all love and care for you in the Middle East."

Dorothy Hayes, a teacher at the school, has a nephew, Patrick Young, who is serving in the gulf.

Gary Lane, a brother-in-law of Cape Christian School teacher Susan Lane, is serving in the gulf. Susan's 4-year-old daughter, Missy, attends pre-kindergarten class at the school.

"She (Missy) always asks that they (classmates) pray for her uncle," noted Bonnie Nations.

In all, 12 children and three staff members at the school have relatives serving in the gulf war, said Nations.

Sixth grader Tom Maassen included a joke in his valentine greetings to the servicemen. He said he hoped it might help "lighten their spirits."

Fellow sixth grader Benjamin Burke said he enjoyed sending off the valentines. "It made us feel real good."

Burke said that when he gets home from school, he watches the television news about the war. He said he feels "sad" for the troops over there.

He said he understands that the protesters are against war. But he added, "Sometimes you have to use force to get peace."

Asked what he would like to tell Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, Burke said, "I would probably tell him to get out (of Kuwait) or he's going to get it."