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Father, school
hope son is safe

By SARAH A.
ZIMMERMAN
IF RALPH Braam could
have had one wish this
past weekend, it would
have been to speak to his
son, Kevin.

But Kevin's a Private

First Class in the U.S.
Army deployed somewhere
in Iraq and communication
with him has been reduced
to next to nothing.
’.. Braam last heard from
his 20-year-old son in a
fetter dated February 24 —
and it took five and a half
weeks to get to Terrace.

“I wish I could pick up
the phone, dial somewhere
between Basra and Bagh-
dad and wish the guy a
happy Easter,” said Braam
late last week.

Instead, he spent the
holiday weekend doing
what he has done since his
son left for Kuwait in late
January.

“1 will be thinking of
my son and praying for
him constantly like I al-
ways do.”

Kevin, a dual Cana-

dian-U.S. citizen, enlisted
with the U.S. Army a year

and a half ago.

A member of the 11th
Engineering Battalion of
the Third Infantry Division
he was first stationed in
Kuwait and then went
north into Iraq when the

“1 wish | could
pick up the phone,
dial somewhere
between Basra
and Baghdad and
wish the guy a
happy Easter.”

war broke out.

In his last letter home,
he was still in Kuwait ina
camp of 11,000 soldiers.

“At that time the troops
were accumulating in
force,” Braam said. “He

was in a small tent de-
signed for 12 with 19:

guys.”
His son told of dust
storms, which the senior

Braam said were

“horrendous”. So much
dust was flying around
weapons had to be dis-
mantled three times daily
to keep them clean and
operational.

The reality of the con-
flict in Iraq may seem a
million miles away to
some people in Terrace,
but for the staff and stu-
dents at Centennial
Christian School, Kevin
Braam’s alma matter, it is
hitting closer to home, ="

“Normally that stuff’s
pretty far away, but to ac-
tually know someone who
is there is a little scary —
different,” explains Bryan
Bandstra,. a 17-year-old
Grade 12 student.

- Bandstra and other stu-
dents took part in a school
assembly to show their
support for Braam and his
family. Students had a
chance to put their
thoughts about his invelve-
ment on paper.

The assembly was orga-
nized by art teacher Tim

Block who saw it. as an

opportunity for students to
ithink about their own

* views on war.

CENTENNIAL Christian School Grade 42 students Bran B Bandstra (left) and Olivier Drouin show the pla-
card the school made as a tribute to former student Kevin Braam, 20. Braam, a dual U.S.-Canadian citi-
zen is stationed somewhere in Iraq with the U.S. Army. SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN PHOTO

Students made a pla-
card with a painting of the
earth sitting in the palms
of two hands. The painting
is surrounded by paper fea-
thers with messages to
Braam from the students.

Edgar Veldman taught
Braam from Grade 2 to
Grade 10 and coached him
on the school’s junior boys
basketball team. He wasn’t

surprised Kevin would be

attracted to the demanding

lifestyle. of the military.
“He was always a stu-

dent who loved a physical .

challenge,” says Veldman,
adding Braam excelled in
physical education. and
extra-curricular sports.

“If you gave him a
chance at any kind of sport
he went after it hard.”

Veldman says the tri-
bute to Braam is fitting..

“The world we live in is
an uncertain place right
now and there’s a lot of
evil in the world,” Veld-
man says. “Regardless of
that, we can live in peace
and comfort knowing that
God has a plan. We’re
fearful for Kevin and we
want him to come back

safely and it’s in God's
hands.”

Ralph Braam doesn’t
know where his son is right
now or how he is doing -
he clings to the hope that
no news is good news.

“IT know. that there is
providence and grace from
up above that is looking
down on these. kids in
Iraq,” he says.

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