A soldier in the classroom

The three-and-four year olds at St. Peter's Early Learning Center were wide-eyed with astonishment at the stories told by visitor Pvt. First Class Brian FitzSimons last Friday. The children were most impressed with the size of the spiders in Afghanistan.
      "They're so big," said FitzSimons, 34, of Baldwin, to his captive audience, "that they call them 'camel spiders.'" He also told them that he and his fellow soldiers have an iguana as a pet at the army base. "He lives in our motor pool," he said.
      FtizSimons was the "Show and Tell" of his three-year-old nephew, Thomas Harmon, wore his army camouflage uniform, and his red beret. "The red, " said his wife, Melissa, who accompanied her husband to the school, "is for airborne. Pvt. FitzSimons flies in helicopters."
      FitzSimons, 10 months into a 15-month tour of duty in Afghanistan, is home on "R&R" for some rest, relaxation, a visit to the school, and marching in Rockville Centre's St. Patrick's Day parade with the Baldwin Fire Department on Saturday.
      FitzSimons is part of a support company overseas, repairing and maintaining everything from Humvees to small electronics. This is his second tour of duty in Afghanistan.
      He told the children that it was very hot there. "It can get up to 140 degrees," he said. "The women still have to wear Burqas, and are covered up from head to toe." The people sleep in mud huts, and the marketplaces are the main part of town. He told the children that he sleeps in a very large tent with seven other soliders, and they go to a larger, main tent to eat and to watch T.V.
      One three-year-old asked about his tall, heavy army boots. They protect my feet from the elements," he told the boy. "It's very rocky and hilly over there."
      The Pre-K class sang, "God Bless America" to FitzSimons, and presented him with patriotic "Welcome Home" posters before he led them in a march around the hallway. "This was the best Show and Tell we have had in a long time," said the teacher.

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