They knew something their student teacher Rebecca Schaeffer and her husband to be, Spc. Jerome Horrace, didn’t.
Horrace had returned Saturday for a mid-tour break from Iraq, and Susan Hilliard’s class of 23 students had adopted his unit, writing letters and sending cards to the 1-28 Intelligence Section at Forward Operating Base Falcon in the Baghdad city limits.
 Some first-grade students at Huachuca Mountain Elementary School receive an American flag from Spc. Jerome Horrace on Tuesday morning. Standing next to Horrace is his future wife, Rebecca Schaeffer, the class’ student teacher. (Bill Hess-Herald/Review) |
The section is officially part of the Black Lions, as the 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team of the 1st Infantry Division is called.
Horrace told the students, who were sitting on the floor, that he and the others of his section, “Love to get letters.”
The soldier had an easy manner when it came to talking with young children.
That comes naturally, as he worked at a Latch Key center for children in Washington before enlisting in the Army.
During a question-and-answer period, kids asked him to explain his uniform, wondering what the large number one on the patches on his arms meant. It stands for the 1st Infantry Division.
“Oh” was the almost universal response from the students, because they knew it couldn’t stand for their first-grade class.
The soldier, who calls Seattle home, thought he was going to just present an American flag, a photo of his section members to the students and read them a Thanksgiving story.
He did do all that, but the students, Hilliard and room mother Andrea Wojcik prepared a surprise for the soon-to-be-married couple, whose wedding will take place Saturday on Fort Huachuca’s Reservoir Hill, where Horrace proposed to Schaeffer.
On Monday, the students each made a wedding card for the pair. And even earlier, unbeknownst to Schaeffer, a large white platter had been signed by each child and their signatures baked into the plate as a wedding gift.
If that wasn’t enough, cake, sparkling apple cider — nonalcoholic, of course — mints and bubble blowers were provided for a shower party.
“I thought I was just going to read,” Horrace said as Schaeffer looked on, just as bewildered as he.
While Hilliard and Wojcik ensured the cups were filled with apple cider and that napkins had been put at each desk, along with other treats, Schaeffer and Horrace went through the cards, reading them aloud, as they thanked each student designer and author.
When they opened the package holding the special signed platter, the kids became jumping jacks, popping up, pointing out their names on the plate and then quickly sitting down.
Hilliard led the children in singing “Happy Wedding” to Schaeffer and Horrace to the tune of “Happy Birthday.”
Before allowing the children to dig into the cake, she led them in a toast to the couple, wishing them a happy marriage, as students raised their cider-filled cups.
Schaeffer, a 2005 Buena High School graduate, is going to get her bachelor’s degree in secondary education from Northern Arizona University in December, having taken accelerated courses.
The teacher-to-be and soldier met in 2005, first through corresponding on MySpace, then talking on the phone and finally in person.
At the time, Horrace, who has more than four years in the Army, was cross-training to become an intelligence analyst at Fort Huachuca. His first service duty was as a Stinger missile operator. This tour to Iraq is his second.
During his training, post officials had to ask him and other soldiers retraining to move off post because barracks room was needed for other students who were coming to the Intelligence Center from basic training.
Schaeffer said her parents, Diane and Mike Schaeffer, took in Horrace, allowing him to use her bedroom while she was at college.
“It’s a girlie room, all pink,” he said, feigning horror.
On Thanksgiving Day, her family will be treating his family to dinner, with 20 people expected around the table.
“Mom’s going to do the cooking,” Schaeffer said.
There hasn’t been much relaxation for the couple between finalizing the wedding plans and knowing their time will be short.
“He’s never been to Disneyland,” she said, adding that’s where they will be going for their honeymoon.
But not long after the honeymoon, Horrace will say goodbye to his wife, counting the days until his 15-month deployment ends. He returns to Iraq on Dec. 6.
When he returns, his wife will have completed filling in for a teacher at Huachuca Mountain Elementary School, who will be going on maternity leave.
He hopes he can arrange for an assignment to the fort, instead of remaining at Fort Riley in Kansas.
For her, it will be nice if he gets a break since Horrace has had two deployments to Iraq, and being assigned to the post might help. And they can set up a home.
And, one wonders if the first-grade class students, soon to be second-graders, will have a house-warming party for them? These kids sure do like to celebrate.
HERALD/REVIEW senior reporter Bill Hess can be reached at 515-4615.
