Army Pfc. Ryan Sova visited Millstone to personally thank eighth-graders for writing to him and his roommate while they were stationed in Egypt this year.
By: Lauren Burgoon
MILLSTONE With fighting raging on in Iraq, it’s easy to forget that there are American soldiers stationed all over the world facing similar dangers and wanting to be back on U.S. soil with their families. But the eighth-graders at Millstone Middle School didn’t forget, and last week they were rewarded for their devoted letter writing to soldiers overseas.
Army Pfc. Ryan Sova visited Millstone on Friday to personally thank the eighth-graders for writing to him and his roommate while they were stationed in Egypt this year.
"Your letters brought smiles to us, truthfully," Mr. Sova, 21, told the class. "The No. 1 thing you can do for troops overseas is to keep writing. It’s a huge morale booster. There was a 25-year-old guy with us who would start to cry when he saw some of the letters we got."
The letters were a welcome reminder of home, Mr. Sova said. He hails from Marlboro so students’ descriptions of life in Millstone rang familiar.
Mr. Sova, a soldier in the 114th Division Bravo Company, spent 10 months along the Egyptian border, where he patrolled mountains to monitor for Egyptian and Israeli conflicts. Serving in Egypt meant dealing with peculiar food like camel ribs and conditions that brought 140-degree temperatures and pavement so hot it melted the soles of rubber sneakers. Strangely enough, Mr. Sova trained for deployment to Egypt in Wisconsin, where he contended with 2 feet of snow during outdoor maneuvers.
While overseas, Mr. Sova said he had to learn to do things like cooking and laundry for himself, all while on four hours of sleep a night. Letters from the Millstone students helped ease the severe conditions, he said.
"I figured he was in a scary situation so I sent him jokes and wrote about sports," Will Levine, 14, said. "I wrote anything that I thought would raise his spirits."
Another eighth-grade pen pal, 13-year-old Ryan McKenna, had the same goal to keep Mr. Sova’s spirits up and mind off of the conditions. Ryan wrote about his favorite sports teams and what he was doing in school.
The Millstone students sent dozens of letters to Mr. Sova, but his schedule allowed him to send only one group letter back. But on Friday he answered every question the students asked, from the hardest part about serving (missing his friends and family) to what kind of music he listens to (punk and Jay-Z). He also addressed censorship of military conflicts, noting that there are bombings in Egypt and other countries that aren’t publicized for Americans.
One reoccurring question was why Mr. Sova became a soldier.
"After 9/11, I had friends and family die. That’s when I decided to join," he said, adding that joining the military is a family affair for the Sovas. A brother is in the Coast Guard, cousins are Army generals and Marines and two grandfathers are decorated World War II heroes, Mr. Sova said.
In exchange for cheering him up in Egypt, Mr. Sova gave the students some advice.
"Have fun with your life. Don’t join the military if you don’t want to. Go to clubs, go to the movies," he said. "But stay in school and go to college. Listen to what your teachers say. I know it’s a pain to hear, but do it. I wish I had gone to college before the Army so I would be a captain now. Then I would be telling guys like me what to do."
While stateside Mr. Sova said he is looking for a Special Forces unit that he can join to go to Iraq.
The letters sent to Mr. Sova are part of Millstone’s involvement in Project SOS (Save Our Soldiers), organized by Marlboro native Andrea Mesh. The eighth grade previously visited with a sergeant who was stationed in Iraq. The class’s third pen pal was unable to join Mr. Sova on Friday.
Now that all three soldier pen pals are back in the United States, the eighth-graders will start writing to wounded soldiers recuperating at military hospitals in Germany.

