Students at Enterprise Elementary School in Dale City celebrated Citizenship Day on Sept. 13 by watching a video-taped greeting from their principal, Melanie McClure, who is currently stationed in Iraq with the Army.
"Right now, I'm in Baghdad," McClure said. "We're here in the hopes to build Iraq as a nation."
Students and staff members applauded when McClure's image flashed on the screen. Wearing her battle fatigue uniform, she stressed that the Iraqis are using the U.S. Constitution to write their own.
"They are using our Constitution as a basis, as a template, for the future for all citizens. It is an incredible task, a difficult task, and they are working hard at it," McClure said.
She told students that she's had her boots on the ground in Iraq for a little over a month and that it is an "incredible challenge" to be there.
McClure, 46, has been a member of the U.S. Army Reserves for two decades. She went on active duty for the first time in her Army Reserve career in 1985, when she was stationed in Germany and for the second time on Sept. 20, 2001, when she served locally as a plans and operations officer until July of 2003.
In a message on the school's Web site, McClure elaborated on themes she touched on in her video.
"Iraq is far from the secure and generally tranquil life that we enjoy from day to day in the United States," she wrote. "As I get more involved with the women of Iraq and their educational goals, I am moved by their commitment to overcome so many obstacles in order to strengthen their base, their chil-dren."
While in Iraq, McClure is serving with the 414th Civil Affairs Battalion, which is based in Southfield, Mich.
Enterprise Elementary has also "adopted" the battalion.
The veteran educator concluded her videotaped message by urging students to apply themselves and to study hard in her absence.
"I miss you all," she said.
Military editor Julia LeDoux can be reached at 703-369-5718.
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