WWE Stars Deliver Soldiers Letters From Reed Intermediate School

By Eliza Hallabeck

“I’m Kelly from the Reed Intermediate School…” read a soldier on a video brought to Reed Intermediate School on Wednesday, December 10.

For the first time, stars from World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and other employees added letters from students to this year’s Tribute To The Troops, a holiday special produced by WWE where service personnel are visited. Students at Reed Intermediate School were chosen to write the letters because of the popularity of The St Valentine’s Day Project, an effort for students in three schools in the district to write valentines to soldiers this year, has had in the past.

Legislative Council member Gary Davis, who is also the vice president of global public affairs for WWE, and Joey Styles, the director of digital content for WWE and a Newtown resident, came to Reed Intermediate School to share soldiers’ reactions to 66 recently written letters from fifth and sixth grade students.

“We have a DVD to show you if that is all right,” said Mr Davis.

As the short film started playing, soldiers came into the view with WWE stars such as John Cena and The Big Show. Mr Styles told students he was holding the microphone while the soldiers read the students’ letters, and, he said, he was sweating from the heat.

The letters written by the students were given to the different WWE stars, and they in turn brought them to the soldiers. While students watched the video, they watched and heard service personnel read and respond to their letters.

One soldier started reading a letter from Brandon, “I’m in the sixth grade,” he had written, before he began describing his family for the soldier. He also added that his favorite food is pizza, and “I want to thank you for serving our country.”

As the letter was near the end, the soldier read that Brandon wished him a safe and happy holiday.

“Thank you for your letter, Brandon,” the soldier said straight to the camera, “and I plan on coming home safe.”

“Nicholas from Newtown” wrote that he wanted the soldiers to know that they are heroes.

In a letter that was a response from WWE star John Cena, one soldier wrote that he wanted the students to know that their letters had made the troops excited.

“Your letters helped make the tour a great success,” he wrote to the writers of the 66 letters.

Mr Davis said this was the first time letters from students had been brought on the trip with the WWE stars, but this was not the first trip made.

For the past six years the WWE has been sending its stars, photographers, camera crews, and other WWE employees to participate in a Tribute To The Troops.

“It stays with you for the rest of your life,” said Mr Davis during a phone interview after the visit to Reed Intermediate School.

During the third Tribute To The Troops tour, Mr Davis said he was in Afghanistan when a soldier came up to him who he had met in Baghdad during the first tour. The soldier remembered Mr Davis, and shared that with him.

“To these guys, everyone who goes over means a lot,” said Mr Davis.

This year Mr Styles went for the first time. Mr Davis did not go this year, but he has made the trip on other years, including the first year of the Tribute To The Troops tour.

Mr Styles said the trip from the United States to Iraq is not like a trip to California. With stops and flight time combined, it was an 18-hour trip in a cargo plane with WWE equipment, employees, and wrestlers.

“For those of you who watch the show,” Mr Styles said to students, “they are very loud, rowdy people. So I slept maybe three hours of the 18 hours.”

He said 26 bases were visited and the group met many troops, including service personnel who never see visitors because they are too close to the front.

“That’s how important it was to send your letters,” Mr Styles said.

One soldier on the video said they receive many letters like the ones sent from Reed Intermediate School students and, “It’s really heart-warming to get that from a child.”

On the tour, Mr Styles said he and some of the other WWE stars and employees were escorted to a new school in Western Baghdad that was opening.

“It was the adventure of a lifetime,” Mr Styles said, “and it was very emotional.”

One moment that stood out from the trip to the school, Mr Styles said, was when they were leaving the school, he saw a United States soldier down on one knee and placing his sunglasses on a girl who was attending the school for the first time.

In response to students telling Mr Davis and Mr Styles about their relatives who have served the country at different times, Mr Styles said, “You should be proud of all your relatives who serve.”

“It is pretty amazing to think of your country and your teammates before yourself,” said Mr Styles, “and they all do.”

This year’s Tribute To The Troops will air on NBC on Saturday, December 20, at 9 pm, and it will feature matches from Raw, SmackDown, ECW Superstars’ live performance in the Middle East along with moments captured from the soldiers reading letters from students from Reed Intermediate School. Students voices were also recorded by the WWE on Tuesday, December 16, while they read some of the letters to be part of the special on December 20.

According to Donna Monteleone Randle, the project chair for the St Valentine’s Day Project, a finished version of the video the students saw at Reed Intermediate School is also being prepared by WWE to be given to Channel 17 to air for Newtown residents.

“Remember, I’ll be thinking of you. Happy Holidays! Yours Truly, Kelly,” the soldier read.