Students In Touch With Troops

Double Churches elementary is a school at war.

Outside, yellow ribbons hang everywhere. Inside, the war is on even the youngest of tongues, says CBS News Correspondent Tracy Smith.

School officials try not to let war-related activities take too much time out of the regular class schedule because sticking to a routine is crucial to helping kids get through this time.

Many of the students in the school have a loved one on the front lines, where it is tough to get a message home. Alec, a student at Double Churches, last spoke to his father to say goodbye in January. He says he misses his dad reading him stories at night.

Robby, another student at Double Churches, hasn't heard from his dad since the war began.

"I feel sad a lot, you know? Miss my dad a lot," he says. "[I] just can't wait to see him again."

In the void of communication, it is easy for kids to start imagining the worst. Some think their parents have died in the war, but they are quickly reassured by their peers and told not to worry. They find comfort reaching out to each other and to those overseas.

Student Megan writes: "Dear soldiers, Thank you for protecting us. My dad is over there too."

"I just like writing to him to let him know that I haven't forgot about him," says Robby. "And I still miss him and love him."

He says even if his father can't write back, he knows his dad loves him too.

School counselor Kathy Green says these children have a simple yet profound understanding of what their mission is in the war.

"They say they're loaning … They're loaning their parents out to the people of Iraq," says Green.

School officials try not to let war-related activities take too much time out of the regular class schedule because, they say, sticking to a routine is crucial to helping kids get trough the times of war.

But the kids want to do more. So along with the cards and letters, they're sending care packages, which include body wash, batteries, notes and more.

"All I can do is send letters and make packages and pray for them," says Robby.