By Pamela Brice
For the Herald
Within two hours of landing on the front lines in the Shah-e-kot valley of Afghanistan, Army Sgt. Jeff McDonald was pinned down by gunfire.
"We couldn’t move for five hours," said McDonald, 30, who grew up in Shoreline and whose family now lives in Brier and Lynnwood.
About 16,000 miles away in Lake Forest Park, Kaydee McGillivray’s sixth-grade class at Brookside Elementary School was thinking of McDonald, their "Sarge," to whom they’ve been writing all year — unaware that he was on the front lines.
McDonald, a Shorecrest High School graduate, is a second squad leader in the 10th Mountain Division. His job is to lead four other soldiers in reconnaissance missions, to determine enemy activity and radio in the enemy’s location.
He also has a sniper team attached to his squad, to provide "intelligence and well-aimed long-precision fire."
"It does get hairy sometimes, but that’s where getting stealthful and sneaking up, camouflaged, pays off. We have to be good at it," he said.
McDonald’s cousin, Chrissy Reid, is a teaching assistant with McGillivray’s class. After Sept. 11, the kids wanted to do more than just give money. Reid and McGillavray brought in a map and showed the students where Seattle is in relation to Uzbekistan and Afghanistan.
The students made Thanksgiving cards for McDonald, put together a care package and each student wrote him a letter asking questions.
At the time, McDonald was stationed at a former Soviet airfield in Uzbekistan and had just come off a six-hour guard shift when he found, sitting on his cot, the surprise package from McGillavray’s students.
"I was so surprised I sat down and wrote letters for two hours straight, answering one question for each student," he said.
The students were surprised to hear back from him. "I told him I am afraid of snakes, spiders and mice, and he said he is afraid of these things, too," said Veronica Share, 11.
Natalie Simpson, also 11, sent the sergeant a candle. He replied, telling Natalie that he and other soldiers played cards by her candlelight for five or six days.
The class sent him a care package for Valentine’s Day, too, but he didn’t receive it because he was on the front lines.
Within the first two hours of landing, McDonald and his men were discovered by up to 20 enemy snipers. His unit was finally able to withdraw without incident. He joined with another platoon and linked up with two companies of the 101st Airborne Division to set up a landing zone for helicopters. Then enemy mortar fire began to hit.
The 43 men dropped their 60-pound backpacks and dived for cover.
"I remember running, looking for a ditch, and it was just like the movies," he said.
McDonald and about 14 men pulled back into a ravine, where they were met with more enemy gunfire. They returned fire and eventually joined the others in a riverbed.
"It is unheard of, for 43 of us to walk in and 43 of us walk out, and not a single person get hit."
The operation was supposed to last three days, but it went on for 12. McDonald said it wasn’t until the fifth day that they were resupplied with food and water.
"For two days I ate four crackers and a pack of cheese," he said.
When the Brookside sixth-graders got word McDonald was involved in the fighting, the class became more intense.
"It was weird knowing he was actually out there getting shot at. We crossed our fingers and hoped he would be OK, because over the year he became our friend," said Brad Walters, 12.
McDonald said one of the first things he did when he got back to the Bagram air base, north of Kabul, was call his mother.
"I was thinking about everything. How we survived a dangerous situation, that all my guys survived and were accounted for, and that I proved myself a leader," he said.
Sharen McDonald said she almost broke up on the phone when her son called.
"I was trying to be strong for him, and he was trying to be strong for me, but neither one of us were sounding very strong," she said.
McDonald came home four weeks ago. He recently made a surprise visit to the Brookside class.
"When I saw him come in, at first I didn’t know who he was, but then Ms. McGillavray said, ‘Ten hut,’ and we all stood up and started clapping. It was Sergeant McDonald," said Mira Penn, 11.
McDonald was in uniform with all his badges.
"I was more nervous standing in front of those kids than jumping out of an airplane," he said.
The teacher said she saw a real change come over her students this year.
"All of a sudden, they were more interested in the world outside of here," McGillavray said. "They also worried and cared about someone, learning about empathy.
"They are his kids," McGillavray said, "and he is their sergeant."
Pamela Brice is a staff writer for the Enterprise weekly newspapers. You can call her at 425-673-6522 or send e-mail to brice@heraldnet.com.
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