Daija’s daddy comes to class

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Eight-year-old Daija Georgette got a surprise she didn’t want to let go of Friday.

Her dad.

David Georgette brought his daughter to tears when he came home from Iraq one week earlier than expected and surprised her at school.

"I’m so happy," said Daija, still clutching the tissue she was using to dry her eyes. As her dad fielded questions from her classmates about his experiences, Daija kept her hands on his arms the entire time.

Georgette, 31, spent the past three months in Iraq at Balad Air Base, 42 miles north of Baghdad, as a civilian contractor for the U.S. military. He works for Battle Force Flight Services providing support for the Predator remotely piloted aircraft at Creech Air Force Base.

"When I missed my Dad I would sometimes go into his room and look at things," Daija said. She even wore his shirts and carried around his blankets so she could remember how he smelled.

Such actions aren’t unusual for children who have a parent deployed to a war zone. Having one or both parents deployed can be a huge undertaking for children, said Michelle Joyner, a spokeswoman for the National Military Family Association. "They experience quite adult emotions for such little bodies," she said.

To cope with the absence of a parent, young children will often either become withdrawn or immerse themselves in activities to take away the stress, Joyner said. When not doing homework, Daija played Legos with her grandfather to help pass the time.

Daija’s grandmother, Mary Georgette, the primary caretaker of David’s two daughters, said Daija would often crawl into her bed at night and ask a lot of questions.

"She’s old enough to understand that people get shot and asked me once if people who get shot can live," Mary Georgette recalled.

While overseas, David Georgette, a member of the Air Force Reserve, tried to call his daughters every Tuesday.

Her third-grade teacher, Sylvia Cantillo, said on Wednesdays, Daija would come to school bubbling with excitement. "She’d say, ‘My dad is coming home today’, ‘He’ll be here soon,’ ‘He loves me.’"

Nearly 41 percent of the nation’s 263,00 deployed servicemen and women have children. There are an estimated 155,000 children experiencing the absence of a parent due to a deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan nationwide, Joyner said. About 1,200 Las Vegas Valley residents are serving in Southwest Asia, local authorities say.

Parents and teachers can do many things to influence how well a child adjusts to having a family member deployed. Having photos and videos around of the absent parent will help the child stay connected. It is also important to validate their feelings, Joyner said. "They need to know it is OK to be angry, sad or upset."

When talking to his daughters about his work, Georgette said he tries to use small words and put things in a context that they can understand. He tries to relate to their lives.

When asked by Cantillo’s class what he did in his free time while in Iraq, Georgette said he would often go to the base’s movie theater. After saying he saw "Transformers," giggles erupted in the room as several children said they had seen the movie, too.

Georgette told the class that life in Iraq was hard. He recalled many times when he would talk to people in chow hall one day, and the next, they would be gone, restationed or sent home.

Cantillo’s class sent notes of encouragement and supplies to the base for Georgette to share with other Americans serving in Iraq.

"When you have people you don’t know supporting you, it makes you feel like they appreciate what you are doing," he said, adding that they liked the junk food the best.

To thank Cantillo’s class for their support, Georgette gave them a flag that was flown during his mission with their name on it. He plans to present the school with a flag, too.

While many schools have done projects like Katz Elementary to help students develop empathy and patriotism, others have set up clubs to help them build their own support network.

"There’s nothing better than having someone next to you that knows what you are going through," Joyner said.